Ciphert3xt
by Melpinthe3rd
Summary: [707 x MC] with some spoilers for Seven's route. Rated "M" for some language and sexual content although most chapters are tame. Things are not as they seem in the MysMes realm. The story is parallel to the original, so has some similarities but different events will unravel. [Ongoing]
1. Eun-ji Moon

**Ciphertext – Chapter 1: Eun-ji Moon**

Data that has been encrypted. Cipher text is unreadable until it has been converted into plain text ( _decrypted_ ) with a key. (Webopedia)

MC x 707

Luciel Choi was living a lonely existence as one of the best hackers in Seoul, if not the world. He was paid royally to dig up the dirtiest data on Kim Jong Un for an underground intelligence agency. Every day was just like the last, grey and uninviting, and he was always shut off from the world. At the very least, he did afford himself a break at least once a day. Without that, he felt as though he really would go crazy. Fresh air and a walk was a necessity, an excuse to interact with someone … anyone. Coffee was that excuse. It acted as his fuel, along with a lot of terrible junk food choices, remnants of which were constantly scattered around his desk. It was Honey Buddha Chips galore. Sometimes, he really wished he had a maid to assist with these things.

One Friday, after a particularly stressful ordeal with his boss – known inconspicuously as Mr P. – Luciel decided to head down to the local Starbucks near his house; his usual favourite. Since he was desperate to get away from work for a little longer that day, he made a point to stay for ten minutes instead of five; a luxury. And this time, he might try and avoid caffeine for once. Maybe a small change in routine was all he needed.

As he waited for his strawberry frappe to be prepared, he noticed a young lady who was maybe around his age, ordering her drink in the queue behind him. She had long brown hair that ran halfway down her back. She wore a cute white summer dress with a blue ribbon and a had a couple of small hairpins with stars on them, adorning the top of a light pony tail.

She was slim and attractive, and flat-chested. He couldn't help but notice and blushed a little as he realised where he was looking. He tried to lean forward so he could catch a glimpse of her face, but her bangs were so long that they obscured her eyes.

 _Shame. I bet she has nice eyes too._

When he actually thought about it, this girl was kind of normal-looking, but something about her seemed to fascinate him. He tried not to make it too obvious. It's not like she would notice him standing there, waiting, with his plain brown hair and thick black rimmed glasses. Although he considered himself to be attractive enough, he knew he wasn't anything special, so why would she even give him a second thought? The barista placed the frappe down onto the counter and checked the name written on the side of the cup.

"Saeyoung Choi?"

The girl turned to look at him as his name was confirmed. She didn't smile, and he still couldn't see her eyes, but Luciel was convinced she had made some level of eye contact with him, even just for a split second.

"Yeah, that's me. Thanks." said Luciel, picking up the plastic cup and taking a slurp of his drink through the straw. His real name was Saeyoung, but he used Luciel most of the time. Although the girl wasn't looking in his direction anymore, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her, she was drawing him in with her simple beauty.

His heart skipped a beat, which scared the shit out of him. It wasn't like him to develop these kinds of feelings. Ever. Since he never really went out, getting a girlfriend was completely out of the question. Then, there was his work to consider. That job was nothing but trouble, and so dangerous that getting someone else involved would be fatal.

Sitting himself down at one of the tables outside, he flicked through Twitter on his smartphone since he couldn't concentrate on anything else. A couple of minutes later, the girl walked outside with her coffee. Her posture was perfectly straight as the wind ruffled her dress a little and her long, shiny hair blew backwards. She had turned to face the other way before Luciel could see her face properly. He silently cursed to himself for missing the chance, but noticing that she had put the drink down onto the table, he squinted to get a clear view of the name written on the paper cup. His vision was legendary when he was wearing these glasses, but he thought they made him look overtly studious. Traditional academia didn't suit him; he was just a natural genius who preferred the joys of tampering with science in unexpected ways.

 _Eun-ji … Moon?_

Luciel could just about make out the Hangul characters that had been scrawled onto the cup in a hurry. He sat, watching her with her back to him as she flicked through her smartphone.

"Eun-ji Moon" he said quietly to himself. "Cute name."

But then a frown descended over his face. He knew that knowing anything beyond her name was a useless feat and would never amount to anything. Even if she was remotely interested in him, he wasn't about to put a sweet girl like her through the shit that came with being involved with him. Truthfully, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd been with a girl; it had been too long. His mind throbbed with the pain of it all. He took another slurp of his frappe to cool himself off under the blistering summer heat.

Though his personality wasn't especially off-putting or crass, Luciel often tried to compensate for his depressing work situation by simulating a false sense of happiness. This usually materialised as nonsensical strings of words or phrases, about space stations, dreamlands and anything else his brilliant imagination could conjure up. It was his way of escaping from the firm grasp that reality had over him.

Not everybody understood Luciel, in fact most didn't, dismissing him as weird or geeky. Spending his time in front of screens wasn't such a bad way to make a living, he had concluded. At least then he could hide away, and be recognised, in some small way, for his talents. The pay was really the only thing that could keep him motivated.

As he got up to leave, Luciel slipped his bulky yellow headphones back on for some much-needed music therapy. Blocking out the sounds of the city seemed best. He shot Eun-ji one last sorrowful glance but she still had her back turned to him. He let out a heavy sigh as he walked away, amidst the nauseating blur of traffic.


	2. A Dangerous Man

**Ciphertext: Chapter 2 – A Dangerous Man**

That evening, Luciel made a decision. He wanted to stay away from people as much as possible, so that he could protect them. The number of times he'd been warned by his boss not to leak information had become uncountable. He knew that if even just one iota of data got out of the organisation's database and security was compromised, he would be fighting a losing battle for his life.

He had programmed the security system himself, so in addition to digging up new intel on the North Korean President, he was tasked with keeping the system up to date. This involved long hours and many lines of complex coding language that he wasn't even sure he fully understood. But whatever he was doing, it was working.

In order to make a promise to himself, Luciel chose to create a permanent visual reminder of just how much of a liability he was to others. Taking some bright crimson hair dye, he let the colour set for around one hour, just to be sure it had taken properly. After towelling off his head, he gazed into the mirror, studying the way his piercing yellow eyes and the brightness of his hair contrasted with each other. He smiled to himself and posed a little, checking himself out.

"God. I'm becoming like Zen all of a sudden …" he noted, giving off an infectious chuckle. Zen, the charming model and actor, was really starting to gain traction with his career and Luciel was always impressed by his public persona, something he could never aspire to have. He would always be a man who worked behind the scenes to get things done. "No choice. Guess I have to take a selfie now." Whipping the smartphone from the pocket of his jeans, he quickly switched on the camera and took a photo of himself pulling a cheesy grin.

"Red for danger. Looks cool! But … I still feel like something's missing." He slipped his black glasses on again and moved his head from side to side. They didn't add anything to his new appearance at all. Still too flat-looking. "Hmm. It's these frames, they're no good anymore."

Not bothering to get changed properly, he sauntered half-naked over to his main PC and fired up a huge 3D printer that had been recently installed. He opened his copy of Vectorworks Designer and started hammering away at a new glasses design, without even stopping to consider his options. This stuff was second nature to him. Creating the main structure of the frames was easy and took no time at all. But the colour scheme had him stumped.

"What says 'DANGER' like nothing else?" he pondered aloud. Looking around his house, he considered some of the objects he'd bought and how he'd decorated the place. Then, as he looked at the steps that led down from the main entrance, it struck him. "Of course! A yellow and black police cordon. That kind of thing clearly states 'crime scene, stay away'. Just what I need."

He finished the design within a matter of minutes and set up the materials in the printer to bring his creation to life. Leaving the plastic to cool off for some time, he circled the new pair of glasses frames as they lay in the production area. Finally able to touch them, he fiddled around with the lenses on his old pair and managed to figure out a way to swap them over. He placed them onto his face and noted the ever-increasing sense of 'cool' that was taking over his being. He whistled to himself, satisfied.

"Phwoar! Check out these babies! Hahahahaha. This is so great! I feel like a new person! Gahh! I just hope these don't have the opposite effect on women! I want them to stay away from me …. No I don't … Yes I do … Ohhh! Why is life so hard?" He tried not to dwell on things too much and let his laughter drown the negative thoughts out.

Luciel slipped out of his clothes and into his favourite onesie – a hand-crafted replica of Jumin's cat, Elizabeth the 3rd. Jumin had it custom-made as Luciel's 22nd birthday present, perhaps in an attempt to keep him away from the real cat. He switched on his gaming PC and logged into LOLOL. It had been a while since he'd had a mess around in the ridiculous fantasy world of LOLOL and since work was finally quiet for now, he needed to take this chance to chill out. He'd been up since 4am, with another early start tomorrow. Maybe Yoosung would be online? No, actually, Yoosung would definitely be online. He put on his headset and flicked the switch to the 'on' position.

Yoosung's avatar showed up in Luciel's team.

 _Ah … there he is!_

"Oh? Seven. No way! I just noticed you're online? Aren't you working tonight?" said Yoosung, surprised to see him gaming.

Luciel put on his jovial voice. "Hey, hey Yoosung! Long time no speak. Nope, not me! I'm free as a bird at the mo. How's things?"

"Well, it's good to see you. I'm … well, you know… same as usual. My GPA sucks, my diet has gone to shit, my mum keeps nagging me to move out and I still can't get a girlfriend," said Yoosung, sighing miserably.

"Heh. Tell me about it," Luciel responded, empathising with the latter complaint.

Yoosung sounded apologetic. "I'm sorry … I know it's a sensitive subject for you."

"What? No. Don't worry about it!" Luciel lied, "Anyway, I'm sure you'll find someone nice soon!"

"You think … there's someone out there for me?" Yoosung seemed doubtful. "When will I find her?"

Luciel grinned. "Have no fear, my brave bleached-hair warrior! God Seven will come to the rescue!"

Yoosung laughed. This guy really knew how to spout crap. "Oh okay. I guess I'll be fine then!"

"But you know …" Luciel began, his expression souring as he was reminded of Eun-ji. "I've seen someone I like. I mean, we've never met properly or anything, but-"

"Oh my god, Seven! Did you fall in love with another anime character!?" joked Yoosung. "You've already got over the last one?"

"Haha. I wish it were that simple Yoosung …"

Yoosung paused for a second, before continuing. "Y-you're not … one of them, are you-?"

"Gay? Me? N O P E! That's not what I meant! It's just … my emotions … got complicated."

"Emotions?" That was probably the first time Yoosung had heard Luciel mention that word.

"I know. I was surprised too," admitted Luciel.

"So. Spill … what's the situation?"

Luciel looked crestfallen. "I don't know how much I can tell you about it …"

His usual naïve self, Yoosung was confused by this. "Huh? Why?"

"It isn't just my work PC that might be traceable … my private information is always at risk too."

"Then why bring it up?" Yoosung seemed annoyed that he wouldn't elaborate on the news. It was obviously making him feel depressed.

"I already know her name, even though we've never spoken. That's dangerous enough."

"What's her name?"

"Like I said. I better keep that to myself. But the point is, I saw her at Starbucks earlier and … I couldn't stop looking at her."

"Oh? What's she like? Some kind of super model?"

"Actually, she was kind of average-looking," said Luciel, flatly.

"Ok …. and?" Yoosung waited for more.

Luciel contemplated the experience. "I just … felt a weird presence, you know – déjà vu but backwards. Like she was there in front of me for a reason, and I don't know why. Her simple beauty really got to me. She seemed so … pure and unaffected by the world and I thought my heart was going to explode."

Yoosung lost a battle against a monster in LOLOL. "Dude, that's serious. Are you sure you're not ill?"

"Pretty sure," he replied, smiling. "Gahh! But I can't stop thinking about her. What should I do? Since I've never seen her before, I bet she just moved to the area and that's her local Starbucks. Maybe she's studying at the University?"

"Seoul National University?" enquired Yoosung.

"How the hell should I know? Just my guess."

Yoosung ignored Luciel's comment and tried to focus on the game again. "Wow! If she studies there, she's bound to be a bright spark!"

"But I have no idea how to find her … or if I should find her. It's probably too dangerous."

"Don't worry Seven, I'm sure things will work out …"

Luciel felt like he was on the verge of tears. "Hmm. I don't know if I want them to work out. If she gets put in danger because of me, I will only be more miserable." He felt wet drips on his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry Yoosung, I'm logging out."

"Hey! Sev-"

Luciel turned off his headset and saved his place in the game. He'd had enough of talking about her for today. What good would it do him anyway? It was a mistake to try and talk to Yoosung about it. What would he understand? He'd go sleep, wake up and get his mind back where it belonged. Work.


	3. And So It Begins

**Ciphertext - Chapter 3: And So It Begins**

 **6 Months Later**

It was a cold Saturday in December and Luciel had just completed twelve hours of back-to-back work. Normally, he would have taken a few hours out to drive his precious Porsche 918 Spyder, but on this particular day he was feeling exhausted and just wanted to stay home.

Six months had already passed since he first saw Eun-ji, and he had only encountered her a couple more times at Starbucks, never having plucked up the courage (or self-assurance) to start a conversation. Anyway, he figured, she wouldn't have recognised this new, 'dangerous' version of himself that he'd constructed. Instead of his more approachable former self, he hoped the smoke flares were sending their signals loud and clear to anyone he met, steering them towards better things and away from the hurt that would inevitably follow.

Since creating the private RFA members' app, he had been even busier than usual and didn't have time to expend brain power thinking about her – that was too much trouble. It had been a long time since Rika and V had held their lavish parties and he was under pressure to find someone to take responsibility for arranging them again. Rika's death had been so difficult for everyone to deal with. She had been a huge influence on each of their lives, and was especially close to her cousin Yoosung, also the youngest of the group.

He logged into the app on his PC, when he noticed something strange appear on the screen. It was lines and lines of code from a sender only referred to as "Unknown". Frowning, he tried CRTL, ALT + DELETE … nothing. ESC … nothing. The next step was to reboot the PC in safe mode, which he did. But the strange code still lingered there, awaiting action. It seemed as though none of the other members had seen it yet, so he took it upon himself to come to a solution before they grew concerned about things.

Then, without warning, his phone started to ring. He glanced over at the caller ID – "Unknown". Maybe it was the person who was trying to get into the system. Touching his fingers to the top of the screen he pondered whether it was wise to answer it. He let it ring a few times, but decided to ignore it. For all he knew it could have been work trying to get him to take up a new assignment and he already had enough projects on his plate.

A few seconds later, his phone buzzed to notify him that he had received a voicemail message. He tried to continue with identifying the cause of the strange code, but his concentration levels were failing him and curiosity took over. He gave in and dialled the voicemail number, setting it onto loudspeaker mode so he could continue using the keyboard.

"You have one new message, received today at 9:14am."

"H-Hello?" came a soft female voice from the other end. "Where am I? How did I get here?" She paused. "If you know, please tell me. I'll be waiting for your call. Thank you."

Luciel was confused. What was going on? Who was this girl and how did she get his number? There was no way of calling her back. He was at a loss, and she sounded desperate.

As soon as it came, the mysterious lines of code suddenly cleared from the screen. He hadn't even touched anything. Someone was tampering with the organisation on purpose, sending them an encrypted message, ciphertext, which couldn't be unlocked without a key. He tried his luck logging into the RFA app again.

Success.

[A New Chatroom Has Opened]

707 HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Jaehee:** Seven! Where have you been? Did you see the code?

 **707:** Hi Jaehee … yeah, I saw it.

 **Jaehee:** Any idea who sent it?

 **707:** Nope. I'm just as clueless as you are.

 **Jaehee:** …

 **707:** I got a strange phone call … from a girl. Did you get something like that?

 **Jaehee:** No.

 **707:** Hmm, that's odd.

 **Jaehee:** But look, someone has been added to the member list in the last few minutes.

 **707:**? I'm the only one who can add members _

 **Jaehee:** Then how did they get access?

 **707:** Beats me, but it probably has something to do with the code that appeared.

EMILY HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Emily:** … Hello?

 **Jaehee:** Hello. Who is this?

 **707:** Emily? Welcome to the RFA. But … I don't understand how you got here.

 **Emily:** I don't know either. I just ended up in this apartment.

 **707:** Apartment?

 **Emily:** Yeah. I was directed here by someone, and now I'm locked in.

 **Jaehee:** Seven. You don't think-?

 **707:** Emily. Can you see any photographs in the apartment?

 **Emily:** Let me see … yes! There is a picture of a woman with beautiful blond hair and she's with a man with blue hair and sunglasses.

 **Jaehee:** THEN SHE'S IN RIKA'S APARTMENT?

 **707:**!

Luciel brought up the CCTV footage of the apartment in another window on his PC, but all previous recordings had been erased. He cursed to himself and scratched his temples, trying to think about his next move.

"Surely there must be a way to identify the person who brought Emily to Rika's apartment," he muttered aloud. "Did I … install cameras everywhere?"

Opening up multiple files all at once, he browsed them carefully, searching for the programme he'd used to monitor the rest of the apartment. No-one knew about this and he never looked at it. This had been an additional security measure he'd put into place to protect Rika when she was alive. People had wanted her dead and he knew it would not be safe to leave the inside of the apartment without cameras. Out of respect for Rika's privacy, he had vowed not to look at those cameras unless something happened. And it hadn't, not until now.

Eventually, he came across the programme and folder he had been searching for.

[ C:\Users\707\RIKA\SecretAptCameras ]

He opened one of the files and enlarged it on one of the six screens he had lined up above his desk. It showed the living room. The girl was in there, sitting casually on the sofa.

Luciel stopped what he was doing and took off his glasses to give them a wipe over with his shirt.

 **Jaehee:** … Seven?

 **707:**...

 **Jaehee:** SEVEN?

 **707:** Ya. I'm still here.

 **Jaehee:** Where on earth did you go?

 **707:** It wasn't earth!

 **Jaehee:**?

 **707:** I was travelling in outer space for a little while ^_^

 **Jaehee:** (sighs) … I just don't understand you sometimes.

 **707:** Don't worry. I've got this all under control. Gotta go. BYE!

707 HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Jaehee:** What's going on? He didn't explain anything.

 **Emily:** I'm confused. What is the meaning of this?

 **Jaehee:** Sorry, this must be hard for you since you're new here. Just bear with us. I'm sure Seven will explain everything once he finds out what's happening.


	4. Unbelievable!

**Ciphertext - Chapter 4: Unbelievable!**

Luciel couldn't believe his eyes, he was able to access the cameras in each location, and the quality was crystal clear. The 8K visuals seemed to scream at him as he opened up each one on separate computer monitors above him.

"Waaa. Who installed such high-spec recording equipment?" He thought about this for a second. "Oh right! I did!"

Impressed with his own standards for great tech stuff, he brought his attention back to the girl in the living room. His heart felt like it had stopped. "N-no way! This can't be right …" He fiddled around with the colour and contrast settings on the monitors to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "I'm just losing my mind. I must be."

The girl inadvertently looked up at the camera. Luciel locked eyes with her, although she wouldn't have known. Her eyes were mesmerising like big, beautiful pools of hazel, which were coming across so pristinely on the screen.

He gulped, hard.

"Not 'Emily' but … Eun-ji Moon?"

Unable to move, he just kept his eyes on the screen, never letting his attention wander for even a split second.

"Is this right? Should I be watching her like this without her knowledge?" He took a mouthful of his now cold noodles that had been sitting on the side for a couple of hours. "What am I saying? This is all for her own safety. I have to keep an eye out for information so we know what's going on. Maybe the hacker will come back."

Then, a feeling of dread coursed through him. What if someone had discovered his little secret? What if someone was able to read his thoughts? He wondered if it were possible that there were even brain hackers in the world, hungry for ways to bring other hackers to their destruction. He hadn't mentioned her name to anybody.

"So, why are you here, Eun-ji? Why you and not anybody else."

This was too weird to be a coincidence. It had to have been planned by someone. Luciel was terrified that he had make a faux pas and accidentally let something slip. Maybe he got drunk at one of the RFA meetings? No … he couldn't remember anything like that happening.

He noticed that Eun-ji had taken her phone out. She was logging into the members' app. He also quickly signed into it, hoping to debunk any strange thoughts she might have. After all, she didn't know his identity – it was probably a lot better that way.

[A NEW CHATROOM OPENED]

707 HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Emily:** 707?

 **707:** Hey, hey Emily! It's me. Seven. Zero. Seven. Defender of Justice! How are you finding things?

 **Emily:** Defender … of Justice? … To be honest, I'm a little scared. I don't know what I'm doing here.

 **707:** Well, I'm a specialist at finding information, so even though it might take time, just trust me to get the scoop on what's going on here. Okay?

 **Emily:** O-ok. If you say so.

 **707:** ^^;; What? You don't trust me?

 **Emily:** I'd like to. But how can I know for sure?

 **707:** There are cameras installed outside the apartment. I've got the CCTV feed coming through right here.

 **Emily:** C-cameras?

 **707:** Ya. BUT ONLY OUTSIDE! I wouldn't have rigged up any inside the apartment. Too risky.

 **Emily:** Oh ok. Well, I suppose that makes me feel better. Thank you.

Luciel blushed slightly, but felt a wave of guilt coursing through him. He didn't have a choice but to lie to her. It wasn't in his best interests to put her on edge by declaring that he'd actually invaded her privacy.

 **707:** Listen … if you ever want to know about any of the RFA members, you can ask me. Or anyone else. Who knows how long you'll be involved with this. Just use the phone feature in the app to make calls. They're free since they're voice over IP.

 **Emily:** Thank you. I'll try it out sometime.

 **707:** I think there's some ingredients still in the fridge. Help yourself if you get hungry.

He wanted to communicate his feelings towards her, tell her how beautiful she was, and that he'd been interested in her for a long time. But those thoughts were useless to him right now. If she knew he was lying about the cameras, he was sure she would hate him forever. He could bet on the fact that a girl's privacy was not something to take lightly. Spilling the beans wouldn't help him find the hacker.

Luciel watched as Eun-ji waded over to the refrigerator in the kitchen and opened it up. There was even a camera installed there and he could easily see her face as she peered inside and picked up some of the containers there. She closed the door and resumed the chat.

 **Emily:** Looks like there's plenty to keep me going, but … I hope I'm not in here too long. Can't I go to the convenience store to get something else if I run out?

 **707:** No. I'm sorry if it sounds harsh, but the fact is … there's a special security system installed in that apartment. If you leave … there will be consequences. In any case, I will need to be prepared for it, but don't touch any of the controls near the door, okay?

 **Emily:** When you say "consequences", what do you mean?

 **707:** I can't tell you that right now. Just trust me.

 **Emily:** Alright, I will. Then, I'll go and make some kimchi pizza.

 **707:** Take care of yourself! Seven. Zero. Seven … over-and-out!

707 HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

Kimchi pizza was nothing short of a staple of Korean cuisine, but always so satisfying. Luciel was starting to really crave one of those, especially if it was made by Eun-ji. He shook his head to clear away the cobwebs in his mind.

He slapped his face to snap himself out of his daydream. "No use, Luciel. Just focus. Gahhh …. Vanderwood is going to kill me, I completely forgot about this! Shit!" Covering the CCTV monitor screens with a plain white sheet to avoid any further distraction, he went across the room to boot up (yet another) PC. This contained his ultimate top-secret database with access to all the information on Kim Jong Un. He would have to concentrate on this for a few hours until it was finished.

So much for Saturday.


	5. Zen's Curiosity

Note: The " 3 " at the end of Zen's chats are actually supposed to be heart emojis. Does anyone know of a way to format documents so they show the symbols on ?

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 5: Zen's Curiosity**

[A NEW CHATROOM HAS OPENED]

ZEN HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Zen:** Oh!

 **Zen:** Ohhh!

 **Zen:** Ohhhhh!

 **Zen:** There's a girl on the RFA app?

707 HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **707:** Hiya Zen

 **Zen:** Hey Seven! So who's the girl? I'm curious!

 **707:** I don't know the answer to that either.

 **Zen:** Huh? But didn't you invite her?

 **707:** No. Read the previous messages.

 **Zen:** Ok … wait a sec.

 **Zen:** …

 **707:** Do you get it now?

 **Zen:** I guess… So, we've been hacked into?

 **707:** Ya. Alongside my other work, I'm still trying to find out who's behind this.

 **Zen:** How is that even possible considering your ability?

 **707:** … I don't know.

 **Zen:** Hmm. This is strange for you. Normally you have the answer to everything straight away.

 **707:** Ah … don't expect so much of me.

EMILY HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Zen:** Emily?

 **707:** That's the new girl. Hi Emily! How's it going?

 **Emily:** Hey Seven …

 **Zen:** Hey Emily ;) I'm the charming actor Zen, but you can call me Hyun 3

 **707:** Waaaa, so bold – using your real name so soon! 0_0 Emily, just call him Zen.

 **Zen:** Here's a picture of me [attachment: selfie # 1,309]

 **Zen:** So, what do you think? Interested? 3

 **707:** Hey. Don't ask her those kinds of questions. Emily isn't here for that reason.

 **Zen:** Ahh … I'm sorry if I offended you Emily but … I am a bit good looking! ;D

 **Emily:** …

 **707:** UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE ENSUES. Zen … look what you did …

 **Zen:** T_T

 **Emily:** It's okay, Seven. Don't worry about it. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm.

 **Zen:** Right? You understand! 3

 **707:** Zen! Quit using those heart emojis! It's seriously annoying!

 **Zen:** Dude. Why are you being so defensive?

 **707:** Hmm?

 **Zen:** It seems like you're just trying to get in the way.

 **707:** Wha-? O_0

 **Zen:** I mean. It's not like we know who she really is. We should get to know her more.

 **Emily:** I'm just as confused as you all are.

 **Zen:** Right? So … why don't you start by sending a photo?

 **707:** NO!

 **Zen:** Ok … That was definitely defensive. _

 **Emily:** I can send you one if it helps you to trust me a little more.

 **Zen:** Trust? Oh … it wasn't so much about … trust … exactly.

 **707:** Emily. You don't need to send any pictures to him.

 **Zen:** I just wanted to see how cute you are! 3 I'm handsome, right?

 **Emily:** ^_^

 **707:** I think she's probably screaming at you right now.

 **Zen:** Oh? She's already my fan? I'm so touched! 3 Here's another photo of me [attachment: selfie # 1,569]

 **707: …** I meant screaming in annoyance at your narcissism.

 **Zen:** T_T

 **Emily:** Haha

 **707:** Anyway, I had better carry on. Time is of the essence! Defender of Justice - deploy! Seeya!

707 HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Zen:** What is up with him?

 **Zen:** Don't worry young lady, I will choose to respect your privacy. I'm sorry if I got ahead of myself. It's been a while since I dated anyone, so … I guess … haha, never mind! ^^;;

 **Emily:** I'm sure Seven was just trying to be nice, but really … you don't have to be so cautious. I'm pretty open-minded actually ^^;;

 **Zen:** …

 **Zen:** I don't have to be so cautious? So … what do you mean by that?

 **Emily:** Uh … I'm not exactly sure myself. Haha.

 **Zen:** Haha.

 **Zen:** I like the sound of you already. If you want to know about anything, call me sometime. My contact card is in the RFA phonebook in this app.

 **Emily:** Ok. Thanks Zen. Anyway, I'm going to have some dinner now. Did you eat something?

 **Zen:** Oh. Have a nice meal! I didn't eat yet since I've been practising my lines. I'll probably grab something from the convenience store later.

 **Emily:** Take care. Bye!

 **Zen:** Ciao, lovely lady 3

 **Emily:** …

 **Emily:** …

EMILY HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Zen:** Oh. What's with the cold response? My heart just broke a little ^^::


	6. Privacy Policy

**Ciphertext – Chapter 6: Privacy Policy**

Luciel was suitably annoyed with Zen. This was only distracting him from working on the project he'd promised Vanderwood he would complete by dawn.

Muttering to himself, he typed away furiously on the keyboard. "That guy, honestly. Making Eun-ji feel uncomfortable by asking her to send photos. It's so natural for him to act like that when he meets women. He's such a smooth talker, but …"

Just thinking about Zen's flirtatiousness made him angry. He'd laid eyes on the girl first and Zen had been so flippant about approaching Eun-ji with malicious intentions, even just via the messenger. Of course, nobody else knew that Luciel had been interested in her from before or even that Eun-ji was her real name. He was convinced that if that crafty actor really did fall for her, he wouldn't stop there.

But then he considered this idea more deeply. Still engaging himself in self-talk, Luciel continued. "I'm pretty sure she's not his type anyway. If anything, he'd prefer someone like, what's her name … Echo Girl. I mean … a double D cup? That would at least be one thing to keep him happy. Plus, she's famous and always in the spotlight, just like he's aiming to be. If he found out that Eun-ji is actually rather average-looking, I bet he'd change his mind about pursuing her."

Struggling to finish the task at hand, he took a sip of his coffee, removed his glasses and ran his hands sluggishly over his face to try and wake himself up a little. Then, mussing up his hair, he took a deep breath in and sighed as he let it out.

"Oh, right. I should check to make sure nothing's happened while I was working." He propelled his wheelie chair across the laminate floor and over to the CCTV monitors. He pulled off the white sheet and threw it onto the ground, checking over each scene carefully. "Hallway – no signs of intrusion. Kitchen – looks normal. Living room – Check. Bathroom – unnaturally clean! Bedroom …

His eyes froze on the monitor showing the bedroom and he felt himself grow light-headed. Eun-ji was just starting to change out of her clothes. He couldn't move a muscle, he was transfixed. She slipped off her skirt and let it fall to the ground. Her knickers, pure and white with small frills around the edges, hugged her tight ass perfectly.

Luciel chastised himself. "I shouldn't be watching this …." But he couldn't bring himself to look away.

Slowly but surely, she began to take off her top. Then, she stopped for a few seconds and looked around the room, seeming a little paranoid. Satisfied that nobody could see her, she continued to undress, lifting up her top. Her hair momentarily rose up over it as she removed the garment from her body and dropped it onto the rug beneath her. The bra she wore was also blindingly pure white and seemed to be reflecting the artificial light in the room.

"She's going to stop there … right?" he blushed and took another sip of coffee, coughing as he struggled to swallow the liquid properly.

As she turned in the direction of the camera, he noticed that her breasts, though still hidden underneath that bra, were actually somewhat bigger than he initially thought. Still small, but perfectly formed. She was just getting cuter and cuter as each second passed. Using the ultra HD zoom feature, he went for a close up shot of that area.

"Gahhhh! WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING?" he yelled, picking up the sheet from the floor and throwing it back over the screen. He turned his chair around and sat with his back to the screen. "No more. I can't take it anymore. I should just let her have her privacy."

But his heart was racing too fast to give up so quickly. The girl he liked was right there before his eyes, with what seemed like only a screen to separate them. He felt himself being forcefully ripped in half. Taking the cross pendant that was hanging around his neck in one hand, he squeezed it tightly and declared, "Forgive me Lord …. I'm about to do something selfish … and I don't know what will happen afterwards."

Pivoting back around, he carefully took the sheet off the monitor again, keeping his eyes down to gather his thoughts. This time, he would look at her objectively. He just needed to pretend that she was like the data he was so used to seeing each day. Numbers. Lines and lines of boring numbers. Letters, hyphens, slashes, dots – they were all so meaningless. That's all she needed to be. Meaningless. An object. Nothing more than particles of skin colliding with one another, forming themselves into the semblance of a beautiful human creature.

He stared back up at the screen, terrified of what he would see.

There she was, again. Like an angel spread across the bed, her long brown hair radiating across the pillows. In the time he'd been looking away, she had removed all of her clothing. He could clearly see her, in all her glory, breasts exposed – sweet and round, her legs – long and slender, with a small mole on her upper thigh. Her vagina had neat wisps of dark pubic hair, trimmed to glorious perfection. She stared at the ceiling for a while, looking more than a little lonely. Then, extending a hand upwards, it was as though she were trying to capture a distant star in the night sky.

Luciel had completely lost his sense of decorum. It was too late to back. The growing problem in his jeans wasn't going to disappear by itself. He'd already confessed his sins so he would have to see this through.

He unzipped his jeans and pulled them down far enough to expose his boxers. He gazed at the massive bulge that had emerged there, surprised at just how hard and ready he'd become. It had been a seriously long time since anything like this had happened to him. The way his hectic schedule was, he barely had time to think about going for a drive in his Porsche, let alone sex acts. But now, it was clear he couldn't ignore it.

Sliding his boxers down, he set his cock free, letting it slap lightly against his stomach. He gave a slight whimper as the air conditioning unit channelled a cool breeze around his bare skin. Taking the thing in his left hand, he started to pleasure himself, slowly, reluctantly. His length was like a solid fragment of rock beneath his fingers and his skin was smooth to the touch. It felt good as he carefully teased the underneath of the tip with his thumb and index finger. Then, moving his hand back to his throbbing shaft, he pumped away at it more vigorously, relishing in the squelching sounds he was producing from the pre-cum.

"Nnnhh! Damnit Eun-ji. It's too hot, you've made the room all hot!"

Luciel stared at the bedroom camera monitor again. Eun-ji was sitting upright in the bed with her back against the headboard, looking at her smartphone. With her legs spread open wide, he was able to get a clear view of her vagina. It was all too much. He started to sweat under the physical heat that seemed to have leaked into the atmosphere. He was already close to his limit and felt like he would self-combust at any second.

"Eun-ji …." He said, panting. "Don't call Zen. Please, just don't call him … or anyone." Although he knew he couldn't influence her decision, he wanted to at least try from afar.

Suddenly, Luciel's phone started to ring. He jolted backwards a little in his chair, flabbergasted to be receiving a call. He checked the caller ID. _Emily._ She was calling him. Nobody else.

"Shit! No, not now not now!" he cursed, still keeping one hand tightly around his pulsating cock. But somehow, despite the circumstances, he felt compelled to take the call. He picked up the phone with his free hand and swiped across the screen to answer.

"He-hello?" he said, trying to keep his cool as best he could.

"Seven?" came that sweet angel's voice. "I'm kind of bored. Can I talk to you?"

Luciel grunted a little, but tried hard to hold himself back. "N-no. I'm-" Her voice was turning him on even more. His cock twitched as he heard her speak those words.

 _She's calling me just because she's bored? Really, what more could I ask for? I should have fun, make some jokes and find something she can laugh at. But-_

He saw her sit up in the bed and tilt her head to one side. "What's wrong? It sounds like you're out of breath or something."

 _Oh no, I actually sound weird on the phone. Quick, make up something!_

"Ye-yeah. Actually I'm out right now. I'm being … chased by some strange hacker guy," he lied, deliberately being vague about the details. "I can't speak with you right now. It's too dangerous."

"Are you okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned now.

"I'm fine. You should talk to Yoosung if you're bored. I'm going to hang up, I'm busy!" he replied, more harshly than he meant to.

"Oh… I see." Eun-ji sounded a little depressed. "Well, I'll talk to you later then. Take ca-"

Luciel hung up partway through her sentence. He was on the verge of cumming into some kind of supernova oblivion and he couldn't afford to have her on the other end of the line when he did. His orgasm voice was pretty intense.

"Ahhh! Fucckkkkkk!" He cried out, exploding all over the collection of monitors before him. Thick semen dripped lustrously down the pristine screens and into the cracks of his keyboard. There was so much of the stuff, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"How long have I been holding THATin?"

As he made sure to squeeze the last of his juices out, he closed his eyes and let himself sink backwards into the softness of the chair, breathing a sigh of sweet relief.

And then a wave of melancholy overtook him. A feeling of disgust. He cleaned up his mess, pulling his boxers and jeans back up. "What the hell did I just do? She didn't deserve that. Why did I lie to her?" Then, giving a slightly crazed laugh, he tried to console himself. "Yeah right! As if could her the truth … _Hey, you know … Emily. There are hidden cameras in your apartment. I like to watch you get naked and masturbate to it. God you're so hot!_ " His expression turned cheerless and stale.

"I'm not that kind of man…" he paused to contemplate this for a moment. "…am I?"

As he watched her again through the camera lens, Eun-ji continued to swipe and tap on her phone screen. She placed the speaker to her ear. He guessed she was making another phone call, but to whom? She was mouthing something, but as hard as he tried, Luciel couldn't make it out and the CCTV wasn't equipped with any degree of audio.

"Who the hell are you calling, Eun-ji?"


	7. Exposure

**Ciphertext – Chapter 7: Exposure**

Luciel woke up at 9am to the sound of a car alarm outside. His head was spinning as a dull ache echoed around his brain. He'd been on a bender in his own house last night and had drunk far too much soju. Thinking of what Eun-ji was doing and who she had been talking to, had been enough to nearly drive him insane.

What if one of the other RFA members had managed to whisper a few sweet words into her ear and ensnare her into their trap? Especially Zen, the bastard. He liked all of them, but when it came to women, he wasn't certain he could really trust any of them to act wisely. Jaehee was another matter entirely. Everyone respected her honest opinions and sense of loyalty. That would never change.

The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted Eun-ji for himself. But this was going to be a tricky manoeuvre.

Throwing on a hoodie, Luciel picked himself up out of his slump and glided over to the PC to log into the app. He needed to know if something had happened overnight while he was passed out on the couch. Whatever it was, it would be wise to brace himself. His heart was getting fragile, but felt he could hold on if it meant he was one step closer to being by her side.

[A NEW CHATROOM HAS OPENED]

707 ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Jumin Han:** Luciel.

 **707:** Hey, it's the trust fund kid! Long time no speak. How's business?

 **Jumin Han:** I'm not a child. Anyway, that nickname is getting rather old now. To answer your question, my business is doing splendidly. We are in the process of releasing a new line of cat food, catered towards busy men who own cats.

 **707:** Busy men? Why just men?

 **Jumin Han:** Because I understand the true pain of not being able to be close to my Elizabeth the 3rd on a regular basis. When a man goes on a business trip, leaving his cat behind, it is heart-breaking to endure. I have vowed to remedy this, by creating this cat food line that evokes the loving embrace of its owner. Jaehee is working on the report right now.

 **707:** I won't ask any more questions about your work …

 **Jumin Han:** Do as you please.

 **707:** Have you spoken with Emily yet?

 **Jumin Han:** Oh? The girl who mysteriously appeared on this app? No. I haven't heard anything about it since I have only just returned from my business trip.

YOOSUNG HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** Seven! Oh and Jumin too!

 **Jumin Han:** Hello Yoosung.

 **Yoosung:** Hi!

 **707:** Yoosung … did you hear from Emily by any chance?

 **Yoosung:** Oh … about that. She phoned me while I was playing LOLOL yesterday. I was so excited to be able to talk with her that I actually decided to answer it, even though I was raging like crazy with the guild.

 **707:** She called _you?_

 **Yoosung:** Yeah. Ahh! She has a super cute voice too! I wonder what she looks like …

 **707:** Don't get your hopes up Yoosung. She might not be what you're expecting.

 **Yoosung:** _ ?

 **707:** I mean … just be careful and don't get too carried away thinking about her.

 **Yoosung:** Hmm …

 **707:** Hmm?

 **Yoosung:** Reading Zen's messages from yesterday, it seems like he was a bit upset after sending those selfies to her.

 **707:** And?

 **Yoosung:** I mean … you made it seem like he did something wrong but … he was only being himself and I'm sure he didn't have any bad intentions by asking for her photo. What's wrong with exchanging regular pictures to introduce each other?

 **707:** …

 **Jumin Han:** Are you hiding something Luciel?

 **Yoosung:** Oh, Jumin! You were still here?

 **Jumin Han:** Yes …

 **707:** We need to be extra cautious. If the hacker gets hold of personal information about Emily, she might be put in more danger. In that case, even a photo could be enough to trace her. People can extract data from the strangest places!

 **Yoosung:** Seven. I feel like you're being too serious. I agree with Jumin. Is there something else going on here?

 **707:** I'm

 **707:** Not

 **707:** Hiding

 **707:** Anything!

 **Yoosung:** Whoa! Ok …

 **Jumin Han:** You are often guilty of something when you write in this way.

 **707:** Me? The Great God Seven Zero Seven? Leader of the Starship Enterprise Xylophone Yacht fleet.

 **Yoosung:** The … SEXY fleet?

 **707:** Ya. Obviously ^_^

 **Yoosung:** And what exactly do they do?

 **707:** They play xylophones, whilst riding rockets in tight latex suits and talk about yachts all evening.

 **Jumin Han:** You can be so immature sometimes. But I will admit that talking about yachts does sound riveting. I have five of my own, and I would like to discuss them with other people. Why don't we invite them to the party?

 **Yoosung:** Oh, right! V still hasn't turned up to tell us the party date!

 **707:** First of all, V contacted me yesterday. He's currently travelling in Saudi Arabia.

 **Yoosung:** Saudi Arabia?

 **707:** Yep. He said he'll let us know about the party as soon as he can.

 **Yoosung:** Ohhh … but I hope it's not too long before we get to hold Rika's parties again. I miss them so much!

 **707:** Secondly, we can't invite SEXY fleet to the party, because they don't exist.

 **Yoosung:** You should have kept up the lie. It sounded cool.

 **707:** Really?

 **Yoosung:** No ¬_¬

EMILY HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Emily:** Hey sexy! _^

 **Yoosung:** M-me? Are you talking to me?

 **Emily:** Maybe. Have you been a good boy?

 **707:** Emily … what's with the greeting?

 **Yoosung:** What do you mean Seven? She thinks I'm sexy! Oh. I'm blushing …

 **Emily:** I have something to show you all. Keep your eyes firmly on the screen.

 **Yoosung:** What is it? What is it? I'm excited!

 **Jumin Han:** Hello Emily. I'm Jumin Han. I'm also a bit curious to know what it is.

 **Emily:** [attachment: Emily1]

A huge picture spanned the width of the chatroom. It was a shot of someone's naked body. The camera had been angled upwards from the woman's legs, giving a great view of her full, round breasts. Her nipples were perked up and her head tilted backwards in an orgasmic pose fit for the set of a porn flick.

 **Emily:** You wanted to see me, didn't you? You naughty boys (laughs) Oh, but Zen isn't here?

 **Yoosung:** …

 **Jumin Han:** …

 **707:** …

 **Yoosung:** WH-WHAT IS THAT?

 **Jumin Han:** A naked woman.

 **Yoosung:** Thanks for stating the obvious. I mean … Emily … is that really you?

 **Emily:** Of course. I would only show my vulnerable naked self to the people who wished to see it.

 **Jumin Han:** Do you have no sense of shame? You should cover yourself up and show more discretion.

 **Yoosung:** Jumin T_T You're so relaxed about this but THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A WOMAN HAS SENT ME A PICTURE OF HERSELF! How can I remain calm? My body is shaking all over right now. I feel like I'm going to faint!

 **707:** Get a hold of yourself.

 **Yoosung:** Seven. Aren't you surprised about this?

 **Emily:** At least tell me what you think of my body, Seven. Is it to your satisfaction?

 **707:** It doesn't matter whether I like it or not. It's not yours!

 **Jumin Han:** There he goes again, making even less sense than usual.

 **707:** This isn't Emily!

 **Yoosung:** How do you know?

 **707:** I can feel the presence of a hacker at work here.

 **Emily:** Me? A hacker? Don't make me laugh!

707 HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** Oh. He just left. Emily, what's going on?

 **Emily:** Who knows? Maybe he's just tired of lying to you all.

 **Jumin Han:** What?

 **Yoosung:** I don't understand.

EMILY HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** Hey! She left too. Jumin – don't you think this seems a bit suspicious?

 **Jumin Han:** It certainly seems so. I will speak with Zen and Jaehee when I can.


	8. Risk Assessment

Hello from the UK :) Just a little note from me, Mel - At the time of writing this chapter, I'm at the end of day 9 on Seven's route and loving it! - He's so cool! Hope you are enjoying the story. Please feel free to leave your honest thoughts. I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

* * *

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 8: Risk Assessment**

Luciel knew he couldn't keep up his lie for much longer. It was only a matter of time before the other RFA members discovered that he was hiding a guilty secret. It was both embarrassing and dangerous and he needed to be cautious not to leave a trail of clues behind him.

So, it was time to put the plan he had up his baggy sleeves into action. In order to find out who had sent the dirty photo using Eun-ji's account, he would first need to analyse some information that had been stored in that picture file. He extracted it into a secure folder on his PC and started digging around for the answers to his prayers.

"God, this whole thing is atrocious. Why would anyone want to send a naked picture of themselves to a bunch of people they don't even know?" he looked down at his fingers on the keyboard. "I'm just thankful it wasn't actually Eun-ji. If they'd been allowed to see her purity, it would have corrupted her on the spot."

Determined to continue with his investigation, he mentally willed himself to keep his eyes firmly focused on the numbers before him. Searching through lines of code, which could be taken from the information located under "Image Properties" - if you knew how. Finally, Luciel stumbled across something interesting.

"Ha! Gotcha!" he said, giving a satisfied grin.

He moved in closer to the screen and squinted to read the small text that had appeared there. It showed an address and a series of co-ordinates.

"What is this? I've never heard of these hackers before", he struggled to make out the name on their logo. "Oh, I see, it's _Cheritz_ … hence the cherry design. Wait, rather than hackers, aren't they actually … game producers? I think I used to know someone who played their games. Oh right, Rika did! Well, this is definitely even more suspicious now. I wish V would call me so I could ask his opinion, but the guy's off cavorting around in the Middle East … for God's sake!"

Taking the phone from his pocket, Luciel dialled Eun-ji's number, switched it to speakerphone and waited. It took a few rings for her to answer.

"He-hello? Seven is that you?" she seemed so hesitant to ask.

He breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing her voice. "Ya, it's me. Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me. What about you? Did you escape from those hackers who were chasing you?" Eun-ji sounded genuinely concerned.

"What hackers?" he said, but put a hand over his mouth in horror. In that moment, he had totally forgotten about last night's cover-up story. "I mean … of course, the hackers. It was … all fine. Got rid of them, no problem. Nothing is too much for me, you know!" Feeling under pressure, he laughed nervously.

"You told me you were being chased …" she said. "… what happened? Why were they after you?"

"I don't want to go into the details over the phone, just in case it's been bugged. I can't tell just by listening."

"Oh … I see."

"Don't feel so depressed about it, and … I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean to use such harsh words. I heard you spoke with Yoosung after I hung up?"

"Oh, yes I-," she paused, "well it's just that … you told me to talk to him if I was bored so I did."

"Yoosung's a great guy, but so naïve. Be careful what you say to him, or he might try and steal you."

"Steal me? From who?"

"Just in general, you know … he might try and keep you for himself. He's cute and all, but he can be pretty stubborn and start throwing his toys out of the pram in an instant."

"And … what do you think about that?" she said, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. "I mean, do you-"

"Heh. Why are you asking for my opinion? It's not like I especially care what you do with him."

"…"

"Are you still there … Eun-ji?"

"EU-EUN-JI?" she was in shock. "Did you just call me EUN-JI? How on earth do you know my real name?"

 _Oh shit!_

"Well, I am a hacker and I do have additional information on all the RFA members. Sorry to startle you with this news all of a sudden, I guess I should have told you about the background check before", he lied, putting a hand on his chest to feel his heart which was pounding in deep thumps underneath. Telling her the truth wasn't going to be easy. "Listen Eun-ji. Actually I … have done something terrible to you. I want you to hear me out this once, but then I don't want you to speak to me ever again."

"What? Why? I don't understand."

"I've been watching you … at Rika's apartment."

"But I haven't even been out into the hallway yet, so how?"

"I … installed cameras inside the apartment a while back … and I know, this is going to sound so bad, but … ", he covered his face in embarrassment as he spoke, not able to believe that he was admitting this to her over the phone, "… I watched you undress. I watched you lie there, naked on the bed, reaching up to the ceiling."

"…"

"Oh God! I'm so sorry. This is too much for me to confess, but I have to. It's so unfair to keep you in the dark about it."

Eun-ji was only slightly perturbed by his revelation, but tried to keep her cool. "Is that it?" she said, rather too bluntly. "Or was there something else going on too?"

Luciel's eyes widened. "Huh? What do you mean? I-," the first signs of tears started to form at the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry …" he sobbed.

"Seven, just tell me. I promise I won't be upset with you."

"I'm afraid you'll hate me …"

"Shhh"

It was time to let everything out. "I masturbated whilst watching you on the camera and when you called me all I wanted to do was talk to you, but I was about to cum and I just couldn't bear to let you hear it on the other end. Oh God, you never deserved to be treated like that …. Why, why, why. Stupid idiot 707!"

…

…

…

"Eu-Eunji?" he tried, not wanting to listen to her reaction.

"You told me to hear you out and then never speak with you again, didn't you?"

"I said it, and I meant it. There's no contractual agreement between us. We don't have to talk. Just hang up now."

"No," she said, resolutely.

"What?"

"No. I won't hang up. Please … don't treat me like this Seven!"

"What are you trying to say to me?"

"I really like you. I've liked you from the start. You've supported me and you've made sure I'm okay. The others have been helpful too, but … I get this strange feeling whenever we are talking. Like there's something supernatural that's keeping us bound together. I-I can't even explain it properly."

"Do you need your ears checked? I _said_ I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Why? What did you do that was so wrong?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I INVADED YOUR PRIVACY!" he yelled, unable to comprehend her words.

"You're a man. Of course, you have desires. Everyone does, in some shape or form." Her voice was calm and sweet, with no sign of vulnerability at all. "Maybe … you didn't even need to mention it to me. The way I see it, your main problem is that you're so racked up with guilt inside and you don't let it out … "

"How can you be so nice about it? I'm a monster!"

Eun-ji laughed. "Now, you're the one who's playing a joke on me."

Luciel melted. This was unbelievable. How could she be so calm about the whole thing? It was a violation of something so important to a girl – her own personal space to think, to breathe, to be naked. She should have to worry that someone was watching her.

"And anyway …" she paused, "I knew you were watching me."

"HUH?" Luciel was horrified. "Then why didn't you say something?"

"Don't you see? It's because I wanted you … to look at me. I couldn't control myself knowing that those cameras were there, so that night I decided to put on a little show for you."

Luciel froze. She had been doing it all for him?

"Eun-ji. Let me tell you now. I'm not all about that. I've … known you for longer than this."

"I know … Saeyoung Choi."

"Ho-how did you even-?"

"Starbucks" she said.

"You've never even seen me. How did you know?"

"That is you … in your profile picture, right?"

 _Ah … yeah_

"Even after you dyed your hair and changed your glasses I recognised you when I saw you, just staring at me from a distance, always at least 10 metres away."

"I'm … speechless. I didn't think you'd noticed me. Good job, but-"

"But what?"

"There another issue here. The special security system. I need to reset it."

Eun-ji sounded cautious. "Special … security system?"

"Stay right where you are, I'm coming over."

He ended the call and smiled to himself, slightly on edge, but happy nevertheless.

 _And I didn't even get to talk to her about the photo. That can wait. This whole thing has got to be connected to it._


	9. Together

**Ciphertext – Chapter 9: Together**

Luciel flung a few essentials into his duffel bag and jumped into his Porsche, in a hurry to get away and make sure Eun-ji was going to be alright. He fixed up the satellite navigation, because although he relished each moment he could spend driving his expensive car, his sense of direction was atrocious. But this was no time to enjoy the drive, or even think about anything else. The girl's well-being was the only thing weighing on his mind and she was the other side of the city.

He sped out of the car park and onto the main street. Feeling himself reacting too quickly, he forced himself to calm down and relax his body more. "Chill …. Just chill. It's all going to be fine."

If he was being honest with himself, he was less concerned about his ability to secure the apartment than he was about meeting Eun-ji properly for the first time, especially after everything that had happened. As he held onto the steering wheel with his right hand, he put some music on to try and keep his mood consistent. It was a song he particularly liked, "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. Though his English ability mostly extended to "hello" and "good morning", he'd made a conscious decision to learn the lyrics to this particular song. Whenever he went to sleep, the song echoed inside his head like a lullaby.

* * *

"Hello darkness, my old friend  
I've come to talk with you again  
Because a vision softly creeping  
Left its seeds while I was sleeping  
And the vision that was planted in my brain  
Still remains  
Within the sound of silence"

* * *

When people saw him walking around in the street with those huge headphones on, he bet they'd wonder what he was listening to, or just not care at all. He chose his music according to his mood. That helped him to live his life in the best way possible. If he weren't religious, he'd have chosen music to replace the void that would have been left behind there. Maybe he'd surprise others with his eclectic choices. When he needed to concentrate, he listened to something by Mozart or Enya. When he needed to motivate himself, he listened to techno house. Sometimes, when he was feeling especially down about something, there'd be a good excuse to jack it up a notch. Heavy metal.

When he was in love? Well, he didn't know about that, but perhaps he'd find out soon.

Finally, he arrived at Rika's apartment, leaving his car in the free parking space at the front. He opened the boot and grabbed his belongings, before making his way to the entrance. After buzzing the intercom once, he waited, shuffling around a little to keep himself warm. In his determination to get away, he'd forgotten to put on his thick jacket, so he was only wearing a shirt, and it was already less than three degrees outside with a sharp wind cutting across his face.

Eun-ji spoke into the microphone. "Saeyoung? Is that you?"

"Ya. It's me. It's freezing out here, can you come and let me in?" Her voice sounded just like it did on the phone, but now she was only a flight of stairs away from him. It was so surreal.

The heavy front door clunked open and Eun-ji appeared before him, wearing a fluffy turtle neck and some nice jeans. Her brown hair was just as bright and shiny as her personality seemed to be. She smiled.

Luciel smiled back. "Hey … it's so good to finally see you in person", he said, moving closer towards her. "I mean … now that we're acknowledging each other."

"I feel the same way …" Eun-ji had turned red. "Anyway, i-it's cold out here, so let's go inside."

As they walked up the stairs, Luciel wanted to clarify his reasons for coming to the apartment. "Listen, I know it's new and exciting that we're together now but you need to be aware of what's going on here."

Eun-ji held onto the banister with one hand and turned to face him. "You do … want to be with me, don't you?"

"…"

"Why are you being so silent all of a sudden?" she asked, stunned by his lack of response. "Please …"

Luciel sighed. "I'm sorry … I'm still feeling complicated," he began. "So don't make me answer that question right now."

Eun-ji looked hurt and turned back to face forwards. She continued to walk towards the apartment. "Well … okay, if that's what you want. I'll give you some more time."

"Besides. The special security system I mentioned on the phone, it's actually …"

"Yes?"

"A bomb …"

She didn't know what she was hearing. This had to be a joke. He was always joking.

"A BOMB? You can't be serious!"

"I'm afraid I am being 100% serious. There's a bomb installed in Rika's apartment. That's why I told you not to touch any of the controls near the door."

"I managed to get out of the apartment, even though you told me I couldn't leave."

Luciel scratched his temples. "Hmm. You're right. That shouldn't have been able to happen. I'm glad nothing exploded when you opened this door."

"But then, where is the bomb hidden?"

"In the toilet … You're not on your period are you?" he asked nonchalantly.

Eun-ji's face turned an unearthly shade of crimson. "Wh-what kind of question is that?"

"Oh, you see … I programmed it to react to blood."

"WHAT? That's a crazy way to programme a bomb but … no … I don't have my period."

"Oh …" Luciel averted his eyes from her as he realised just how personal he was getting. An embarrassing secret had already been let out, but this was something far more intricate. His face was nearly the same colour as his hair. "… then you're safe."

"Are you really serious about that?" she said.

Luciel chuckled to himself. "Hahahaha. No. I'm sorry, I'm sorry … that was a really cruel trick to play on you", he said, repositioning his glasses.

"Why would you even say something like that?"

"I just wanted … to make you smile," he said. "I'm so sick of hurting people that I thought at least if you'd smile it would be worth it."

"That hurts, Saeyoung," she said, starting to wipe away the small tears that were appearing. "Please don't ever joke about something that concerns human lives."

Luciel looked downbeat. "I really am sorry Eun-ji. If I could invent a time machine and reverse what just happened there, I would." He looked over at her again, a little more hope in his eyes. "You know, you're the only person who calls me Saeyoung now … besides the guy at Starbucks, but I won't count him. He isn't really cute enough."

Seeming to have accepted his apology, though it had been very brief, Eun-ji let out a light sniffle. "Do you like being called Saeyoung, or do you want me to call you Luciel … or 707?"

"Who cares? I'm just one person after all."

Eun-ji smiled to herself. Hearing him insinuate that she was cute was nice and her heart felt soft and marshmallowy.

 _That's right. He's the same person he's always been._

"Bomb or no bomb, let's make ourselves some coffee."


	10. Timeout

**Ciphertext – Chapter 10: Timeout**

It was already starting to get dark outside and Luciel had been focused on gathering more intel on how Cheritz had managed to hack into the RFA app. He stared intently at the screen before him, squinting to pick up on even the minutest fragment of data that could be out of place. But no matter how many times he ran the check, the company's credentials seemed to be legitimate. He didn't know much about Cheritz, other than the simple fact that they developed mobile games. It was no good – he was used to digging up dirt on organisations through the Dark Web, but these guys were surprisingly clean; they paid their taxes, they filed everything correctly, they had proper security and most all, they treated their developers well. He respected this.

When he was certain that every corner of the internet had been fully scoured, Luciel felt satisfied that it was impossible to blame them for what had happened so far. Someone must have been manipulating them.

 _Then, who on earth is behind all this? How did Eun-ji end up becoming an RFA member?_

Eun-ji had spent her time lying casually on the sofa reading some manga she'd found in Rika's bookcase. Every few minutes, she'd find herself glancing over at Luciel, watching him from the side as he worked so hard. But he had willed himself not look in her direction, lest he break his train of thought. They had been alone together in this apartment for over an hour, and barely a word had been exchanged. Being in a place which belonged to neither of them felt stifling.

Luciel had been sure to place his bulky headphones firmly over his ears and took sips of his coffee every once in a while, just to boost his brain power. Listening to music helped him to work better, as his imagination would be stimulated to think of different solutions. If he didn't do that, his mind became numb from the dull and repetitive sounds his fingers made as they channelled his intellect through the keyboard and into a virtual, mechanical wilderness.

Once again, he absorbed the goodness of his favourite tune _The Sound of Silence,_ but this time it was a cover by the band Disturbed. It had a deep, rousing quality about it that he especially liked.

"And in the naked light I saw  
Ten thousand people, maybe more  
People talking without speaking  
People hearing without listening  
People writing songs that voices never share  
No one dare  
Disturb the sound of-"

He almost jumped out of his seat as he felt a sharp tap on his left shoulder. Turning around, he saw Eun-ji standing behind him with nothing short of a cute smile on her face. She was saying something to him, but since his headphones were so well-made they had blocked out all noise.

Removing them quickly, he placed them around his neck. "Hmm? I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I said … how's everything going?"

"Oh, it's fine. You know, just doing this and that …"

"Is that all you're going to tell me? You've been stuck at that computer for so long."

"This amount of time is peanuts to me. But I don't have any news to share with you. I'm at a loose end. As far as I can tell, Cheritz are in the clear."

"Cheritz?" Eun-ji cocked her head to one side as she questioned the name. "What's that?"

"Oh, you don't know them? They're a game development company, mainly specialising in games for women. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them."

"Hmm. No, I don't think I've ever heard of that company. But why are you even researching them?" and then she realised something more pressing. "OH GOD!"

Luciel's heart raced a little hearing her suddenly scream out like that. She had been so calm and quiet up until now. He wanted to know what had made her change. "What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"WHAT ABOUT THE BOMB? ISN'T THERE ONE RIGGED UP HERE!? WHAT ABOUT THE SPECIAL SECURITY SYSTEM?"

"Whoa, Eun-ji! Okay, first of all – calm down. Don't worry. There isn't actually a bomb in this apartment … like you said, it wasn't good of me to make up stuff like that." He smiled at her, hoping for forgiveness. "Okay?" He didn't really know what girls wanted in a man, but wasn't the prospect of being in danger kind of a thrilling experience?

Then, as though he had just detonated an internal bomb, Eun-ji delivered a swift, resounding slap across his face.

"Honestly!"

Eyes widening, he put a hand to his cheek and look up at her. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?"

"That's for asking me if I was on my period for no good reason!" She looked so serious now.

Luciel let out a slightly stifled chuckle. "You're mad about _that_? I thought you knew I was joking!"

"It's rude to ask a girl those questions … why did you do it?"

He sighed. "You're actually pretty persistent aren't you? Do you … really want to know?" he blushed and felt his stomach turning in a sudden onset of nerves. He'd never been so directly confronted by a girl in his life. "No … forget it. It will only cause trouble. For me, in one way. For you, in another."

His cryptic way of talking was confusing Eun-ji even more. She showed little sign of letting up and simply glared right into his bold yellow eyes, like she'd rip him in half whether he revealed the answer or not.

Whatever had riled her up so much, he didn't like to see her like this and it was scaring him a bit. "It doesn't matter now. Come on. Please don't be like this. I'm sorry I asked you about it … okay?"

"…"

 _No good …_

"Are you going to stay mad at me forever because of a silly joke that I can't take back now?" he tried, but Eun-ji was silent all the same.

His mind whirred with complicated, irrational thoughts and he swivelled back around to face the monitor. He put his headphones back on again, purposefully. What more could he say to her? She was being more than a bit impossible and he didn't know how to handle it. He frowned, a sense of childlike stubbornness taking him over.

 _Gahhh … Seriously? Why can't I just be taken for who I am without causing offence? She could have maybe retorted with "Did your hair have a period?" or something … and we could have just forgotten about the fact that I asked her a personal question._

Eun-ji stared at him from behind, and she could make out his face as it reflected off the screen. He looked so lifeless and dejected, despite his concentration. She felt a small pang of guilt for having lashed out at him the way she had, but she also felt justified at the same time. She went to sit back down again and looked over at the metallic robot cat that he had made. Its cold, machine-like eyes held no emotion whatsoever. She had no idea why it was even there to begin with. Why would he spend the time creating something like this when he had a job to do?

Then suddenly the high-pitched voice inside it piped up. "Meow! 707 is feeling frustrated meow!"

Eun-ji jolted backwards, and looked to see whether Luciel had reacted to the robot cat's confession. He hadn't. It seemed like he was too focused on what he was doing. Slowly coming to the realisation that her attitude had been over the top, even after he had apologised, she wanted to at least make another cup of coffee for him. It was the least she could do.

As they'd entered Rika's apartment earlier, he had mentioned something about the cat being connected to his mental state. She took the robot cat into the kitchen with her, hoping for a little more insight into Luciel's thoughts. Placing the cat on the fridge, Eun-ji poured some leftover coffee into a mug and warmed it up in the microwave.

"So … is there anything else you'd like to share with me, little kitty?" she didn't know why she was asking the robot cat, when the man in the other room was the subject in question. But he was busy, wasn't he?

Its eyes lit up and the mechanisms inside started to whir away. "Meow! He is sexually frustrated meow! Maybe you should give him some attention meow! If you don't, it could be really dangerous meow!"

"Ehhhh?"

Turning a ridiculous shade of red, Eun-ji looked horrified as she panicked and tried to locate the 'off' switch. The robot was giving too much away. After all, Luciel had made it with his own hands. How could a machine be intelligent enough to know this information without having been specifically programmed by him?

 _What is he thinking?_

The microwave pinged and she went to retrieve the mug of steaming coffee. Checking that the temperature was just right to drink, she took it cautiously by the handle and strolled back into the living room. She left the robot cat on top of the fridge to cool down, although after hearing those words, she felt like she was the one who needed to do so.

 _Sexually … frustrated?_

Luciel had seen Eun-ji approaching from the corner of his eye and gulped hard as he tried desperately to concentrate on what he was doing. She placed the coffee cup down onto the desk beside the mouse he was using, and kept her hand there for a few seconds longer than necessary. As he moved the mouse slightly to the left, their fingers accidentally brushed against one another. Seven felt a short static friction burning through his body as they touched. Eun-ji withdrew her hand quickly and shot him a little look that begged for reconciliation. The coffee was obviously supposed to be a kind gesture. His mind was focused on the job, but his heart was elsewhere.

"Th-thank you," he managed, although still a little taken aback by her earlier outburst.

 _Stop it Eun-ji … stop looking at me like that … please … I need to find the truth …_

But as he turned to look up at her, she was staring at him with moist eyes and had her hand resting on her chest. It was clear that her heart was feeling the immense strain of keeping her emotions locked up in a cage.

 _Eun-ji. Don't tell me … you want me to do something impossible …_


	11. Suspicion

**Ciphertext – Chapter 11: Suspicion**

"J-Just let me carry on working," Luciel said, trying to ignore the obvious expression of hope plaguing her face. "Don't disturb me until I tell you I'm done."

Sad that she couldn't do anything to help, Eun-ji dragged her feet as she walked into the bedroom to log into the RFA app. Things had become a bit awkward between the two of them now that they were in such close proximity. Maybe it had been easy for him to watch her through the lens of a CCTV camera or talk to her over the phone, but now that he could physically reach out and touch her, it was a different matter entirely. Still, he had been gentlemanly enough (and busy enough) not to act on his innermost desires. If anything, that robot cat was just a nuisance, bringing all those things up. What good could come from knowing that he was sexually frustrated? Realistically, what was Eun-ji going to do about it?

She sighed.

[A NEW CHATROOM HAS OPENED]

EMILY HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Emily:** Hi everyone!

 **Zen:** Oh! Emily … um …

 **Emily:** What's wrong Zen?

 **Zen:** I mean … is it really you this time?

YOOSUNG HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** Zen! And …. Oh, it's …. Emily. The real one?

 **Emily:** What are you both talking about?

 **Zen:** Hmm? You didn't know about it?

 **Yoosung:** Your profile got hacked earlier.

 **Zen:** Yeah, and we received a picture …

 **Emily:** A picture? Of what?

 **Yoosung:** ….

 **Zen:** …

 **Emily:** What was it? Please tell me! I'm getting nervous …

 **Yoosung:** Naked …. naked ….

 **Zen:** It was a picture of a naked woman. No need to be shy Yoosung, even though you're inexperienced, unlike me.

 **Yoosung:** I'm not being shy! I'm just trying to be diplomatic when there's a girl here, since I'm such a nice guy ^_^

 **Zen:** If you say so. Well, it was what it was … a very nice body indeed. Don't mind if I do …

 **Yoosung:** Zen!

 **Zen:** Oh, sorry … I got carried away.

 **Emily:** What? But I didn't post anything like that! Why would I?

 **Yoosung:** You wouldn't! We know that!

 **Zen:** And Seven was spouting some nonsense about it not being your body. He was pretty insistent about it too. Like, how would he even know?

 **Emily:** Actually … there's something I should probably mention.

 **Zen:** Sure. You can tell us anything. We're here for you Emily.

 **Yoosung:** Yeah, he's right. As an RFA member, accidental or not, we will look after you!

 **Emily:** It's just that … Seven is here right now.

 **Yoosung:** At Rika's apartment?

 **Emily:** Yes.

 **Zen:** Wait … You're in an apartment …. alone … together … with HIM?

 **Emily:** Yes. He's working to try and find more information on the hacker. There was some company called Cheritz he found connected to it, but he won't tell me any more details.

 **Yoosung:** Cheritz?

 **Zen:** That name sounds familiar …

 **Yoosung:** Oh!

 **Zen:** You know something Yoosung?

 **Yoosung:** I remember Rika mentioning that she used to play games made by Cheritz on her smartphone. I think V used to get a bit irritated with her as she was on them quite often.

 **Zen:** Rika played games?

 **Yoosung:** Yeah, haha. I guess it runs in the family ^_^;;

 **Zen:** Okay, let's get our priorities straight here. Never mind the hacker right now, the point is Seven … HE DIDN'T TRY AND DO ANYTHING TO YOU DID HE?

 **Emily:** Haha, unfortunately not. No. He's been too busy to pay much attention to me.

 **Zen:** "Unfortunately not"? Sounds like you actually want something to happen (laughs). You're not serious about that are you? He's an oddball. I'm much more of a gentleman! (sighs) Well, okay whatever. Just watch your back at all times, because no matter what they say, all men are wolves!

 **Yoosung:** Wolves? No, we're not all like that Zen. Please don't just talk about yourself … ^_^

 **Emily:** Actually, this isn't the first time I've seen Seven.

 **Zen:** What do you mean?

 **Emily:** I saw him several times before I even came to the RFA. We used to go to the same Starbucks for coffee, but we never spoke to each other back then.

 **Yoosung:** Oh …

 **Zen:** Whoa! So ….. it's not a complete coincidence that you ended up here?

 **Yoosung:** Isn't Seven being a little too secretive? He would have been able to see you on the CCTV cameras outside the apartment as you entered to know what you looked like. Why wouldn't he have mentioned this earlier?

 **Zen:** Yeah. For all we know, he might have just created a hacking bot that automatically logged into Emily's profile and posted those messages, just so he could be the one to fix things and be the hero.

 **Yoosung:** Who's to say that he didn't set up this whole fiasco so he could see Emily again? It's entirely possible that there wasn't even another hacker to begin with.

 **Emily:** What are you guys talking about? Don't you want to trust him to find the solution to all this?

 **Zen:** I do, but … he obviously likes you, so why else would you – of all people – be here? The situation smells too fishy and I don't like it.

 **Yoosung:** Isn't what he's doing a bit … stalker-like?

 **Zen:** Yeah … I hope that Seven wouldn't do something like that, but-

 **Emily:** Personally, I can't believe that he'd have such malicious intentions. I just don't want to believe that's the case.

 **Zen:** You're too trustworthy little lady. He could have a hidden agenda up his sleeve.

 **Yoosung:** But she's right Zen, I think we're being too harsh on him. Would he really use his skills for something like that? Can't we put a bit more faith in him, as Emily says?

 **Zen:** Well … to be honest I want solid proof that he's not tricking us.

 **Emily:** Let's just wait and see what happens, okay?

 **Yoosung:** Alright. Let's do that. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the photo wasn't you. I knew you'd be more careful than to send something like that to us all. I'm sure … you have a much more delicate body.

 **Zen:** YOOSUNG! DON'T START IMAGINING THINGS!

 **Emily:** Haha. I'm embarrassed ^^::

 **Zen:** That boy … His inexperienced brain is making up something ridiculous! (sighs)

 **Yoosung:** I am not imagining anything! I promise! 0_o Also, I'm an adult now, so you can quit calling me a boy!

 **Zen:** Yeah, yeah. Whatever ;) Anyway, I'm going to go and practice my lines for a bit. I'll check back later to hear what Seven has to say about this. Bye!

ZEN HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** Oh, right! I was in the middle of cleaning my room. That damn Jumin Han called my mother and told her to come over. I don't know what he was thinking. SHE'S GONNA LECTURE ME NON-STOP!

 **Emily:** Well, enjoy!

 **Yoosung:** I'll try … T_T

 **Yoosung:** Talk to you later! Take care of Seven!

 **Emily:** I will, thanks!

YOOSUNG HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

EMILY HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM


	12. Reboot

Apologies for the sporadic updates. I'm afraid work took over for a bit. Anyway I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Little by little we will reach the conclusion

\- Mel

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 12: Reboot**

Eun-ji logged out of the app and wandered back into the other room. It was already nearly dinner time and her stomach had started grumbling its complaints whilst she'd been talking with Zen and Yoosung. She noticed that Luciel looked tired but he was still carrying on with his work, tapping away on the keyboard relentlessly.

Remembering that he had specifically told her not to disturb him, she decided to fumble around in the kitchen, hoping to find some nice fresh ingredients for a nutritious meal. Even if Luciel was too busy to eat right now, he could at least warm his portion up later.

But as she was taking some of the leftover kimchi from the fridge, she noticed a dark shadow forming across the kitchen units in front of her. Turning to face the other direction, she saw Luciel standing in the doorway, casually leaning against the wooden frame with one arm. His aura seemed different now. A rather sudden change.

Eun-ji felt her pulse quicken as she hurried to pick out utensils from the drawer. "Um … Saeyoung? A-are you finished with your work?" she managed.

"No. But I'm done for tonight," he said, taking off his glasses and placing them onto the worktop. "Since you're being so patient, I thought maybe … we could do something else?" he smiled, a little hopeful that they might finally be able to spend some time together.

Eun-ji blushed a little and tried to change the subject. "What about that photo that got uploaded to the chatroom? Someone hacked into my profile while I was offline …"

Luciel sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I need to find out what's going on with that, but I doubt there's any hurry. This is why I needed to investigate Cheritz in the first place. They're the ones who sent the photo."

"You deleted it from the chatroom?" she sounded a little suspicious.

"Yeah. It was just a precaution, since there could have been a virus attached to it and-", he paused, trying to think of the right words, "-I mean … just for a sense of decency, you know."

"To think that someone would post a photo like _that_ using my login! It just really frustrates me!" Eun-ji fumed, twisting the lid of the kimchi jar forcefully.

"I read your latest messages in the chatroom, so I guess our little secret is out now," he laughed a little. "Listen, those guys can suspect me all they want, but what reason would I have for posing as the other hacker?" he looked at the floor. "You trust me, don't you? All I want to do is protect you now that you're part of the RFA."

"But why would I end up here? It's just too strange. One minute I'm studying for my exams and the next I wind up in this apartment."

Luciel pondered this for a second. "Wait. So you're saying that you weren't actually _led_ here, but you … woke up inside the apartment?"

"Yeah. I was at home in my room, when all of a sudden I felt drowsy. When I came to, I was lying in bed, still fully clothed but someone had definitely placed me there. That's when I phoned you."

This didn't make sense. "How did you even get my number?"

She showed Luciel the phone that had been in her pocket. "That person must have left me this smartphone. It already had everyone's contact details pre-loaded onto it. Yours was top of the list. It's all just so … mysterious. I don't know what to believe anymore." Eun-ji looked up at him, her vulnerability bleeding through, but broke eye contact almost immediately.

Feeling even more confused now, Luciel scowled. "What do you want me to say? That I _am_ the one behind all this? Would that satisfy you? To know that it was me all along?"

Eun-ji was a little annoyed that he would assume such a thing. "Where did _that_ come from? No, of course not. I don't think you're trying to trick us", she said, stroking her arm bashfully. "I mean, what I want to say is … I just … I just want you to be honest with me …" she paused, "…about everything."

Luciel took her roughly by the shoulders, which forced her to gaze up at his tall, slender frame. He brushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen across her face and stared deeply into her hazel eyes. Eun-ji could already sense that he was starting to reveal his true intentions, and that felt reassuring.

"Eun-ji. Ask me anything. I'll give you a straight-forward answer."

Eun-ji gulped as she felt Luciel's slightly clammy hands hold her shoulders still, his grip gradually tightening by the second. A heavy pulse thudded through his fingers, the blood pumping its eager way around his body. She prepared for the worst, feeling herself grow hotter and hotter with every breath she took. "Are you … sexually frustrated?" She just came out with it.

"Ehhh?" Luciel jolted backwards. He definitely hadn't misheard what she had said. Truthfully, the past few hours he'd spent sat at that computer had been torture for him, and not because of the screen time – he could deal with that aspect. It was much more about where his mind had been going. His limbs suddenly felt weak and numb knowing that she was reading him like a book. His personal security system being hacked into on the spot. "W-what are you talking about?"

Eun-ji smiled in the knowledge that she had flicked a switch somewhere. "You said you'd give me honest answers." He couldn't lie to her anymore.

"Yeah? W-well, I didn't expect a question like _that!_ " he retorted, defiantly.

She put her hands up front of her to create a kind of cat paw stance. "Meow! He is feeling sexually frustrated meow! Maybe you should give him some attention meow! If you don't, it could be really dangerous meow!" her voice was the epitome of ridiculous.

Luciel chuckled at her impersonation. "Seriously, that was SO bad! Please just make sure no-one ever lets you become a voice actress!"

"That's not exactly going to ruin my life plans, but the robot cat really said those things about you! It scared me …"

"It scared you? Why?"

"Because I feel like if I don't do something to help, what is my purpose in the RFA?"

It took Luciel a minute to digest this information. "Wait …. WHAT?"

"You heard me. What good am I here if I can't do something to help?"

"But what do you mean by 'help'? This hacker business is something that only I can fix right now."

"Yes, I know. But I wasn't referring to that …"

"Then what were you-?" he began, but Eun-ji put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"You want me, don't you?" she whispered. "So let's do it."

"Lets ….do …'it'?" he echoed, still unsure of the context all this was supposed to belong in. "You mean … let's fly to the moon together in a rocket full of PhD Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips?" he winked, playfully, knowing fully well what she was inferring, but he was trying as best he could to fill the conversation with at least some meaningless drivel to hide his embarrassment.

She cut right to the chase. "If _that's_ what you want to call it, then yes." Then, walking forwards, she stood up on her tiptoes so she could speak softly into his ear. "What did you _really_ want to do earlier when I brought your coffee over?" The dulcet tones of her voice tickled the hairs on the inside of his ear and he felt a brisk chill coursing through his bones. As she pulled away, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and tipped her head to the side. The cutest look ever.

"Tell me what you're thinking, Saeyoung."

Luciel's mind immediately clouded over. The information stored within his internal memory seemed to silently fall away from him, byte by byte, as he struggled to make sense of it all.

"I'm thinking … you're just too cute to ignore."


	13. Virus?

Ok guys, here's the sexy stuff you (may) have been waiting for ;) Enjoy!

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 13: Virus?**

"I'm thinking … you're just too cute to ignore."

Hearing those words made Eun-ji's heart melt. In truth, she couldn't care less about the fact that Luciel had jerked off whilst watching her through the CCTV camera. Masturbation was only a natural part of life and she was somehow happier that he'd mentioned it to her. She had no doubt that someone else would have considered it sickening and creepy, but to her it had been like some kind of pleasantly warped trust-building exercise. Anyway, he'd shown so much restraint up until now.

Fixing her eyes fixed on his now reddened face, Eun-ji felt herself being drawn in by the tufts of bright crimson hair that caressed the man's face, his piercing yellow orbs and the way his shirt was so close-fitting. She brought her gaze downwards a little; the tempting preview of his satisfactorily muscular chest, just visible due to an unfastened top button, was all too much to take in. As she carefully studied these aspects, she felt like all the cells in her body had been electrocuted with lust. The very concrete sense of danger that Luciel had initially sought to convey was having an even more adverse side effect. He was now unabashedly dripping with sex appeal. And there was so much of it that she was sure it would devour her if she didn't make her way back to the surface soon.

But before she could even think about swimming back to safety, Eun-ji felt the particles of air close in around her as Luciel moved towards her. She let herself fall backwards a little, grabbing onto the edge of the sideboard behind. Since he was a good six feet tall, his slender frame seemed to tower over her. Forming a long, dark shadow across the kitchen, he pressed his torso against hers, placing his hands on the side to give himself some leverage. His expression remained warm yet serious but his body was evidently seeking pleasure.

Instinctively, Eun-ji put both hands up against his chest. At first, she thought of pushing him away, but it didn't take long before she was lured back in by the sweet aroma that his sweat was giving off. Those tasty pheromones were trying to communicate with her. So many inappropriate thoughts were running through her mind, but she knew that turning back now was pointless. He had already wormed his way inside her brain, like a special breed of parasite that would influence, but never kill its host.

Feeling the heat that was radiating from his body, she wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly and burying her face in his shirt.

"Saeyoung …"

Her voice was muffled as she spoke into the fabric. She could sense that their hearts were both beating together in uncanny unison, heavy and strong.

She wanted him so badly now.

Luciel slowly traced his fingers along her back before running his hands upwards through her beautiful brown hair, letting the lustrous strands fall down one by one. He could smell the shampoo she'd been using – some kind of herbal essence - and it made him feel at ease. Taking another breath in, he revelled in the scent of the shampoo as it mixed with the natural feminine smell that she possessed, and it only turned him on even more.

"Eun-ji … You smell so nice. You're too much."

Lifting her head up to look at him, Eun-ji smiled and relaxed her arms a little, though still holding on him. There was something mildly animalistic about his comment that had made her feel even hotter inside. Her face was betraying any attempt to hide her emotions.

"I'm glad you like it."

Luciel grinned back, mischievously and let himself get lost in the girl's presence. He placed his hands on her hips and caressed the area of bare skin underneath her winter sweater. Her stomach was soft, warm and inviting. Moving his hands upwards, he stroked her abdomen a few times, slowly and purposely, as though he were pampering a cat. Occasionally, he'd run his fingers along the underside of her bra wire, teasing her mercilessly. His hands were ever so slightly calloused from doing so much computer work, which created a pleasant friction on her skin.

"Nnhhh …" she let out a small whimper as she felt the blood flowing straight to all her sensitive areas. "Saeyoung, your hands … are so sensual."

"Mmm … say that again," Luciel crooned into her ear, knowing that he was definitely doing something right. Teasing her body like this was just way too much fun.

She leaned forward, her fragile breath brushing against his cheek. Moaning sexily, she changed the wording to better express her current mood. "You're _so_ hot. Touch me more."

Luciel felt like he really wouldn't be able to hold back if she kept this up. "Mmm. That was just a warm-up. Well, don't say I didn't warn you. Things could get … dangerous from this point onwards."

Feeling her heart skip a beat, Eun-ji wondered exactly what he was inferring. "How … dangerous will it get?"

"Only as dangerous as you want it to be."

Eun-ji could sense the immense excitement that was coursing through his veins. "Just do whatever feels right. I trust you, but-"

"But?"

"It's … my first time, so-"

Luciel's eyes widened at her revelation. "WHAT?"

Suddenly Eun-ji felt embarrassed about saying anything. "I-I'm sorry … you probably don't like virgins, right?" she panicked and looked around the room for a possible escape route.

"Th-That's not true! I mean … it doesn't bother me. I was just surprised, you know?" He paused to think about his next line. "Don't worry. I promise I'll be gentle with you." He felt awful that she harboured that kind of impression about him and he wanted to rectify it right away. "Anyway, it's been a while since I did anything like this, so it's almost like my first time again." His smile was reassuring and honest.

"Thank you, Saeyoung …"

She was too cute, and a virgin? How was this possible? They were the same age and she'd never done this before? Just knowing this made him want her even more. He brushed her bangs to one side and stared into her glorious hazel pools, once again drowning in their indescribable beauty. Pulling her face towards his, he planted a gentle kiss on her lips. He could feel her pulse hammering away furiously as he did. Eun-ji returned the kiss with even more passion, bringing them closer than ever. His tongue explored her wet cavern, letting it caress hers in a glorious fight for dominance. Then, a sweet yet savoury flavour took over his senses. It was such a wonderful, familiar taste. He soon recognised that he had been savouring the flavour of his favourite Honey Buddha Chips that lingered on her breath. He even came across a bit of a chip that was stuck in her teeth and actually made a point to retrieve it with his tongue.

Breaking the kiss, a sultry trail of saliva created a bridge between their mouths momentarily. Luciel licked his lips and munched on the leftover morsel. "Mmm. I taste that you've been eating Honey Buddha Chips. You do know that makes you even more delicious, right?" His voice had become slightly deeper and more alluring.

Eun-ji chuckled at his light-heartedness, somewhat embarrassed but amused at the same time. "I love them too."

"Well, I have an entire warehouse full of them at my place. I'll let you have some but shhh, it's a secret, okay?" he winked.

She considered this for a second. A whole warehouse full of Honey Buddha Chips? Was he actually some kind of snack God? Whatever the reason, she liked the idea that they could keep even the smallest of secrets between themselves. "Ok. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"Good girl! So … where were we?" Luciel turned Eun-ji around and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing himself against her from behind. She could feel his length harden beneath his jeans and she started to grow wet at the mere thought how it would be when he finally took her. He gently ushered her into Rika's bedroom, kissing the nape of her neck tenderly, sometimes even biting at the perfect flesh. Whatever he was doing felt amazing, and he just left her wanting more with each second that passed.

He threw Eun-ji down onto the huge bed and she rebounded a little because the mattress was so springy. Straddling her hips, he noticed how her hair was spreading across the pillow, just as it had when he watched her before. But this time, he was there, seeing everything. He was able to touch her with his bare hands and feel no guilt, because she wanted him now. And he wanted her, more than ever. He unbuttoned his shirt without taking it off completely and just let it hang open. Eun-ji had been right, his body was nicely toned - not muscular in the same way that Zen's was - but what she saw was more than manly enough for her.

As Luciel removed Eun-ji's winter sweater, he finally revealed her bra. It was red with a black polka dot design, and slightly padded, which made her small breasts look sizably bigger. The CCTV image of her fully naked body soared around in Luciel's mind. He already knew what to expect and yet the anticipation of seeing everything now was still so gruelling. Running his hands up and down the same area he'd touched before, he leaned down to kiss her again. Eun-ji closed her eyes to receive his mouth, feeling his hot chest make contact with the material of her bra. He clawed his keen fingers up her body once more, but this time he didn't stop and slid his hands underneath her bra to touch her breasts. They were so much softer and sweeter than he'd imagined and as his warm hands enveloped them, Eun-ji could feel her heart beating even harder for him. They carried on kissing for a few seconds longer while Luciel gently teased her aroused nipples.

Eun-ji broke the kiss to come up for air. "Oh! It's so hot! Saeyoung I wanted to ask you … are my breasts … good enough for you?" At this point, they already seemed to be sweating buckets and Luciel could sense it starting to seep through the back of his shirt.

"Are you kidding?" he said, concerned that she seemed to be suffering from low self-esteem all of a sudden. He reminded himself that it was her first time, and she was probably anxious about pleasing him. "You don't have to worry about anything. I love them just the way they are. Forget about _trying_ to make me feel good. Just go with the flow. I want you to feel good too, okay?"

Eun-ji nodded to acknowledge his response. "Yeah. Plus, all men are wolves, right?"

Scratching the back of his head with one hand, he kept the other firmly on her left breast. It was too soft not to squeeze. "Huh? You're bringing _that_ up now!" He clenched a fist, pretending to be angry. "Damn. Zen will pay for mentioning that."

Letting out a satisfied laugh, Eun-ji urged him to continue. "But really. It does feel good. Please … keep going Saeyoung. Make me feel good."

Hearing her name use his real name so often was driving him crazy. "You've done it now. I'm going to eat you right up! Take off your bra!"

Eun-ji sat up a little and unfastened the clasp, letting the undergarment fall to the floor. "How's this?" Her small, but well-formed breasts had been set free and Luciel was in awe of how special they were. He started to lick salaciously around the bottom of her right breast, tantalising the area close to her areola, but not quite hitting the sensitive spot. Lapping at the soft surface beneath, he let himself circle his way slowly up to her erect nipple. Eun-ji watched his red hair as he moved with each stroke of his tongue. Using his index finger and thumb, he pinched at her nipple and fondling it briskly, before coating it with his saliva and sucking hungrily at it.

"Ahh!" Eun-ji cried out. "God, you're making me shake all over!" she took a clump of his hair roughly in one hand as he continued to pleasure her. His movements intensified as his mouth sought out all the fresh textures and smells that her body was offering up. As he hit a particularly sensitive spot, she accidentally yanked on his hair.

"Ouch!" Luciel stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, a desperate look appearing on his face. "Don't pull so hard … please."

Eun-ji looked upset. "I-I'm sorry. It's just … you were really getting into it."

"No shit! You're just too tasty, like Honey Buddha Chips" he said, grinning. "Now … shall I carry on?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Luciel slipped off his shirt and threw it onto the chair. His jeans weren't getting any looser, so he figured it would just be a hell of a lot less hassle to get rid of those too. Eun-ji noticed what he was trying to do and unwittingly put her hand onto his crotch. Jolting a little at the new sensation, Luciel stared down at the bulge that had formed there. She undid the button and started to pull down the zip, as seductively as she could manage. The dirty look she gave him as she undressed him just made him want her more. This was nice, but he just wanted to take these clothes off.

Standing up on the bed whilst trying to keep his balance, Luciel eased his legs out of their respective holes and flung his jeans onto the floor. He looked so tall now, cowering over Eun-ji's semi-naked body, looking like some underwear-laden superhero, ready for action. His boxers were decorated in a colourful childlike UFO pattern with moons and stars filling in the gaps between. She laughed, covering her mouth.

"Those … are brilliant! You're so funny Saeyoung!"

"These are my lucky boxer shorts! Are you making fun of me?" he said, equally as amused as she was that he would end up showing them to her.

"No! I love them, I love them! They're so cute!" Eun-ji found it difficult to supress her laughter.

"Ughh! Really? 'Cute'?" he pretended to be annoyed that she'd called his underwear 'cute'. "Well, that won't do. I can't be wearing _cute_ boxer shorts, so they'll have to just come off!" And with that, he whipped them off in a flash, now leaving him completely naked besides his socks. He was visibly pleased with the progress he was making.

Eun-ji recalled a profile picture that Zen had uploaded of him and Luciel on a fishing trip. His current stance was basically the same as when he had just caught that gigantic fish. That made her laugh again. As far as she was concerned, she was more than ready to take _this_ bait.

His cock was long and slender, a perfect mimic of his entire body, and stood proudly to attention. Eun-ji extended her arm upwards and tried to touch it, but he decided to play with her a bit and started swooshing it around in circles so it was just out of reach.

"Do you want this? Well, you're going to have to try harder than that!" he said, a look of enjoyment spanning his face.

"Ehh?" said Eun-ji, pouting a little. "Aww, come on. It's so cute, I want to feel it."

"NOOO! You didn't just call Agent Vanderwood 'cute' did you?"

"Agent Vanderwood?" Eun-ji looked confused. "That's a very precise name."

He smirked. "Yeah, he's my immediate manager. I call my cock that because he can be a total dick!"

Eun-ji chuckled. "That's interesting! But please … Saeyoung!" she begged.

"You used my real name again. I really like it when you do that. So I'll be nice and let you have a feel." He crouched down on the bed so she could get a closer look.

Shaking a little, she gulped and took the shaft of his penis in her hand. "I-It's so hard!" she exclaimed, not meaning to say it out loud. That made her seem like even more of an amateur. Her face looked even more flushed now.

Luciel moved forwards to straddle her again. "Of course it is! You just make me feel this way … so you get to enjoy it."

"And how do you want me to enjoy it?" she pondered, eyeing the thing curiously.

"That's up to you. Use your imagination," he said, trying to give her creative freedom. He liked the great suspense that came along with surprises. It was no fun if he just told her what to do.

She brought her face closer to his cock and stroked it as she whispered to it. "Now, Agent Vanderwood. Have you been a good boy?" She listened for a response. "I can't hear anything; you'll have to speak up. Or … does that mean you've been a bad boy, Agent Vanderwood?" Her voice was seductive. Not bad for a first-timer. But something wasn't right.

Luciel turned slightly pale. "Arrgghhh! No, why did I even choose that name in the first place! That grosses me out! Let's try something else …" It was true that he hadn't considered the consequences of calling his cock Agent Vanderwood when it came to bedroom antics. That was mostly because he didn't expect to be hooking up with anyone at all.

"Well then, how about _this_?" but before he could even speak, Eun-ji had starting licking the underside of his member, coating his with her wet saliva. After a few seconds, she took him all into her mouth and gagged a bit as it hit the back of her throat unexpectedly.

"Don't force yourself …" warned Luciel, aware that it could take a bit of getting used to. "… but it feels great."

"MMM-HMMM" Eun-ji agreed. The vibrations she made as she mumbled resonated through Luciel's body, and this turned him on even more. Luciel shivered at the wonderful, prickly sensation as her tongue teased all his sensitive areas.

Determined to give it some more oomph, she changed tactics and started sucking fast and hard on the thing, relishing the satisfying slurping sounds that she was making. Somehow, he tasted better than she had expected which made it so much easier to do. He arched his back inwards as she continued to take him in. This was heaven.

"Ahh. Eun … ji … you're gonna make me cum really quick doing that!"

She didn't care. More than anything, right now she just wanted to watch him explode all over her. She would admit that it was exciting to see how long he'd be able to contain himself. This was her idea of danger; seeing how far she could push him without letting him ejaculate.

"Nnnhhh. God!"

Luciel was enjoying this. A lot. It was by far the best blowjob he'd ever received, there was no denying that. Her mouth felt warm wrapped around him and her tongue had become so proficient in such a short space of time. He wondered if she really hadn't done this before. He tried to take his mind off the sensation for a minute to delay his climax, but he struggled to ignore it. Instead, he felt himself being dragged further down into the seductive, lust-filled ocean they had created together.

"Nn-no… no, I'm almost-"

That was what Eun-ji wanted to hear. She wanted him to beg her to stop. But she wouldn't.

"Ahh. I really am gonna cum if you don't slow down!" Luciel panted, trying his best to keep pace with her.

She carried on sucking. Harder. Harder. Harder. Then, she softly sank her teeth into it, just to create enough pain, but not too much.

He hadn't expected _that._ "Oh shit! Now I'm going to cum!" he said, to at least give her time to decide what she was going to do. Eun-ji withdrew her mouth and sat back on the bed, patiently waiting for the money shot. She didn't have to wait long.

"Fucckkkkkk!" He tended to swear a lot when he was climaxing. Luciel writhed and contorted with pleasure. He'd never felt so alive. His white juices shot out like fireworks, Eun-ji's face and breasts covered in the sticky substance. "Oh God. You … you're amazing!"

Eun-ji wiped the semen from her face, before scooping up some of it in her hands and licking it. "Why, thank you!" and then, just to taunt him, she leaned forward and observed his semi-hard cock, stroking it sensually with one finger. "Well done, Agent Vanderwood. You _have_ been a good boy."

Luciel scowled down at her. "Don't even go there!"

She looked up and simply smiled at the crazy naked guy before her.

How on earth could he ever resist that beautiful face? No. He couldn't resist her on earth. They would _have_ to go to space, no choice.


	14. Demons

**Ciphertext – Chapter 14: Demons**

Luciel and Eun-ji stayed up late the night of their first sexual exploration. They managed to get through a few bags of Honey Buddha Chips that they had discovered, to their amazement, right at the back of one of Rika's kitchen cupboards. Sitting on the bed in his UFO boxers, and Eun-ji in her underwear, they played games, drank some beer and just generally decided to have some fun. Luciel felt relaxed for the first time in years and was thoroughly enjoying telling his crappy jokes that somehow made her smile. This was the kind of man he could be when he wasn't trying to avoid people for fear of hurting them.

But as the morning came and they woke up in each other arms, reality hit Luciel as hard as his hangover. He opened his eyes with a start as he heard his phone ringing loudly and he sat upright in the bed wondering what the hell was going on. His head was spinning uncontrollably and it seemed impossible to focus on anything. Blindly feeling around on the bedside table for his glasses, he cursed to himself as he struggled to locate them. It took him a few seconds to pick them up and slip them back on. The din and vibration coming from his phone was unrelenting and he grew irritated.

"Seriously? It's 7:18am … gimme a break …" he muttered quietly to himself, aware that Eun-ji was still out like a light over on her side of the bed. He stood up and sauntered into the kitchen with the phone, half-asleep. Looking at the name on the screen he sighed and answered it.

"What do you want, Vanderwood?"

"Luciel! Where are you!? Why aren't you at home?" came Vanderwood's voice from the other end.

"I'm … out," he said, trying to be as vague about the details as possible.

Vanderwood was obviously not happy. "You're out? At nearly half 7 in the morning?"

"Sure, I had to run some errands," Luciel lied, grinning from ear to ear. "It happens every now and again."

"I don't think so, Luciel." Vanderwood had a knack for knowing how to read straight through his excuses.

Now just a little concerned, Luciel turned to face the fridge, playing with some magnets that were stuck to it. "I'm out. Why don't you believe me?"

"Because I'm inside your house."

"WHAT!? How the fuck did you get into my house? I programmed it to only respond to Arabic and binary code!" He tried to keep his voice down, despite his shock.

"Yes, well. I'm not employed by the agency for nothing either. And I can see you right now."

"Huh!?"

"On the monitor. You're in someone's kitchen doing something to the fridge. In your underwear."

 _Shit, I left the screens switched on!_

Luciel freaked out. It would be trouble if he knew he was seeing Eun-ji. He was especially close with the boss after all. "I've been doing some cleaning for my cousin."

Vanderwood raised his voice a little. "Don't play dumb Luciel. I know that you're hiding something while not completing the work I assigned you."

"What did you see … exactly?" He wanted to be sure that Vanderwood didn't have access to the recorded material from last night. If anything, just for the embarrassing fact that he'd named his cock after him in jest.

"Nothing, since you set the recorder to delete any materials stored in the system up to a certain point," confirmed Vanderwood. "You're ridiculously cunning, you know." He paused. "Look, I don't know what's really going on and I'm sure you're not going to tell me. Maybe I don't really care about the facts. But know this - if you don't finish this work on time, I'll be forced to investigate further. I don't need to remind you that anyone who gets involved with you will face serious consequences."

Luciel sighed. "I know. I can work from this apartment, so please don't worry … tell Mr. P that I'll get everything finished by the end of the day."

"Are you really safe there? If you can't create a secure network with the tools you've got, it could be dangerous. What if a hacker tries to access the database? You'll be held liable in that situation and I won't be able to help you then." Vanderwood's tone was monotonous yet managed to communicate the gravity of things.

"Vanderwood, just-" Luciel knew the consequences if he made a mistake. The repercussions weren't going to be trivial. His life was hanging by an invisible thread that was prone to snap at any moment. "Just leave it to me. I'll sort it."

Vanderwood grumbled. "Fine. I'll believe you. But you have no choice but to remember your priorities here."

Luciel felt his mind being numbed by the contractual agreement he had with his work. All the fun that he and Eun-ji had shared last night might as well have never happened. She would want it to continue, but he knew that it was impossible. Everything had to come to an end eventually. Regardless, he wanted to think that he could lie to himself just a little longer. The demons in his life were back, slowly creeping into his veins to taunt him. He would do anything to get out of this treacherous cycle, but he knew too much and letting him go was a huge risk from their perspective.

"I know, Vanderwood." Maybe the guy had been secretly looking out for him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. "Thanks-" His lonely voice trailed off as he moved the receiver away from his ear and swiped to end the call, letting his arms just hang by his sides.

He sat down at the kitchen table to take a few moments to collect his thoughts together. Running his fingers through his hair, he held himself perfectly still, just staring at a fixed point on the table. "I'm damn lucky he didn't find out about last night … but what should I do now?" Talking to himself like this wouldn't solve his problems, but then neither would talking to other people. It was a lose-lose situation.

"Hey sexy… " came Eun-ji's voice as she entered the kitchen, loosely wearing the shirt he'd had on yesterday.

Luciel broke out of his trance and looked over at her, serenading over to him so sweetly with his clothes on. He was almost the luckiest man alive.

Almost.

"Good morning …" he tried, although his usual sense of enthusiasm had been dampened by the call with Vanderwood.

Eun-ji tipped her head to one side and observed his expression. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

"No, not exactly," he said, avoiding all eye contact with her now. "It's just work stuff."

"Was that your boss on the phone?"

"Yeah. I have to finish something by the end of the day, so …"

Eun-ji smiled and approached him. "Well, that's fine right? We can just spend some time together afterwards." She started to massage his shoulders, but he wasn't relaxing at all. "You feel so tense this morning."

"We can't-" he began, his voice dull and flat. "We can't carry on seeing each other. I'm sorry …"

Eun-ji shook her head in disbelief. "No … Saeyoung! What are you saying? If you're just busy with projects for work, I can be patient."

"It's not just that. I told you before, it's too dangerous to get to know me." He took a deep breath in and held it there for a few seconds before exhaling. "Last night was a mistake."

"A … mistake?" Eun-ji echoed, feeling very on edge. She took a seat opposite him.

Luciel's soul was being ripped in half. "Yeah. We just got carried away."

"Why would you say it was a mistake when we had so much fun?"

"I don't deserve to have fun."

Those were probably the saddest six words she'd ever heard someone say. It broke her heart.

 _What can I do Saeyoung? Please … just tell me._


	15. No Apologies

This story is going to be longer than I had originally anticipated. Oh well I know Seven's being a total ass at the moment, but bear with me. I hope you are enjoying it so far!

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 15: No Apologies**

Luciel stood up, clenching his fists in frustration. It wasn't easy for him to convey his current feelings to Eun-ji. Of course he wanted her. Of course he wanted to leave his job. Of course he felt utterly torn inside. But it was all too late and he wasn't going to pretend that this thing would ever have a fairy-tale ending. He knew that everything had been cast in stone, even before it began.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said, matter-of-factly. "And then I'm going to get on with the project since the deadline's tonight."

Eun-ji tried to break up the tension in the atmosphere. "Do you want me to … shower with you?" she said, a sweet smile gracing her face.

Luciel furrowed his brows. "No!" he fumed, slamming his fist down hard on the table. "Don't even think about it!"

His cold response pained Eun-ji and she tried to reach out to stroke his hair. But before she could touch it, he grabbed her wrist a little too forcefully and stared her directly in the eyes, an unforgiving aura encircling him.

"S-Saeyoung!" she cried. "What's happened to you? Why are you being like this?"

"I might have been fun yesterday, but that's not who I really am. Just forget that any of it even happened!"

"How can you say that?"

"Because I know we're just better off that way."

 _This can't be real …_

Eun-ji felt wet patches forming at the sides of her eyes. "Then, show me who you really are! I want to understand …" she sniffled. "But please, don't shut me out."

Releasing his grip slightly and still holding onto her, he looked even more angry now. "You don't understand, and you don't ever need to," he confirmed.

She knew they had a deeper connection than this. Something had changed his mind that morning and she was willing to risk everything if it meant they could stay together. Prising her wrist away from his firm hand, she started beating her fists on his bare chest. "Saeyoung … no, no, no, no! Just stop it!" Her heart was beating faster than ever, but it wasn't caused by excitement this time – more like an impending sense of doom that was sending out its pulses from the very depths of her soul.

Luciel was numb. How could he even respond to her wishes? "Eun-ji … "

"Stop blaming yourself for everything! I don't care what you've done. Just love me!" she pleaded.

He pushed her away gently. " _Just_ love you?" he echoed. "Do you really think it's so simple?"

"Tell me I'm just being stupid but … isn't it more than obvious how we feel about each other?" Eun-ji knew that if there was even a spark of hope left for them, she would try to capture it.

Luciel wandered over to the kitchen door and looked over his shoulder at her trembling face. "Just remember that … I don't care about your feelings." As those words materialised, he felt himself being snapped in two. He needed to keep his distance.

 _You know it's not true Eun-ji, but I don't have a choice right now._

He grabbed his clothes from the bedroom chair before making his way to the bathroom and closing the door loudly behind him. Eun-ji just watched as he walked away, without even an ounce of apology in his words. Whatever had she done to deserve this?

 _Maybe_

 _I_

 _Should_

 _Just_

 _Leave_

On the surface, that was what she wanted to do, but no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to shake off the memory of the man he had been the day before; seductive, pleasantly mysterious and a hell of a lot of fun. How could his entire personality just change in an instant like that? It confused her.

She threw herself onto the bed, clearly unsatisfied with the situation, and picked up her phone. If Luciel wasn't going to listen to her, she might as well try talking with one of the other RFA members. Surely they would know something that she didn't. Flicking through the member phonebook, her thumb hovered over Jumin's contact details for a second, but she reconsidered this, thinking that Zen might be more understanding. She hit the 'call' button on the screen and waited, fixing her eyes on where she knew the camera was hiding in the room.

It only took a few rings for him to pick up.

"Hmm? Emily?" he sounded groggy, like he had just woken up.

"Hey Zen. Yeah it's me."

Hearing her voice made him perk up. "Hey! It's … kind of early to be talking isn't it? Oh well, not that I'm complaining. How's everything going … lovely lady?"

"…"

"What's with the silence? Are you okay?"

"Sorry, I just … I-I don't know why I called you …"

"Ehh? What does that mean? Do you need a reason to talk with me?"

"It's not that …" her voice trailed off.

"Okay …" he paused, sensing her melancholy. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's about Seven."

"Oh … Don't tell me … this time he really did-?"

"Uh, well … I don't want to go into the details, but … yeah."

Zen lost it. "SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK IS HE THINKING? I TOLD YOU ALL MEN ARE WOLVES BUT … but I guess you didn't believe me."

"Oh, no. I mean … I wanted to." Eun-ji guessed that Zen had probably turned whiter than his hair.

"YOU DID IT … WITH _HIM_!?" he began, and then tried to calm himself down so he could think more rationally about her admission. "Ah, that must have been …. Interesting."

"It was very nice actually," said Eun-ji, blushing a little as she remembered their antics. "We had a lot of fun last night."

Zen paused a little before continuing. "So … did you call me just to taunt me or what?"

"Excuse me?"

Did Zen need to spell it out? "I'm … kind of … interested in you," he said.

Eun-ji really hadn't noticed. "Oh?"

"Just 'Oh'? Is that all I get from you?" Zen laughed in spite of himself.

"I mean, I didn't know you felt that way …" she confessed, bringing her knees up to her chin.

"Then … why are you calling me?"

"Because I wanted to talk to someone and you seem like a reliable person."

"Talk to me about what exactly?"

Eun-ji was still a bit reluctant to tell him, but she knew it would just play on her mind if she left the words unspoken. "Seven's been acting strangely this morning."

"Hmm. That's suspicious. How so?" Curiosity got the better of him again.

"He's … already telling me that I don't matter to him anymore, and that last night was a mistake."

Zen felt flustered. "THAT BASTARD! How does he just think he can just light a fire and extinguish it so quickly?"

Eun-ji tried to draw some common ground between the two guys. "Haven't you ever done that to a girl before? Seeing as all men are wolves?"

Offended by her remark, Zen felt he had little choice but to give her an honest answer. "No I haven't. Sure, it's true that I haven't been in a relationship for a while, but I've always treated women with respect. I don't approve of Seven's behaviour. He's an idiot if he thinks that acting cold towards you will make it go away."

"Zen …" she began, realising that he might be the only one who understood what was going through her mind. "… thank you for listening to me."

He was embarrassed to hear her gratitude. It was a bit cute. "No need to thank me. Just … let me know if you want to talk anytime."

"Can I … come and see you?"

Zen was stumped. He didn't know what to say.

"Zen?"

"Uh … "

Eun-ji felt like she was being stifled sitting there. "Can I come to your place … just for a bit? I just don't want to be in this apartment any longer."

Zen was sure that she just wanted to clear her head and let Seven sort out his emotions, but was letting her meet him in person the right thing to do? Despite his fundamental sense of loyalty to Seven, he honestly didn't know if he would be able to control his instincts.

"Please Zen …"

She sounded upset. She needed a shoulder to cry on, that was all. And he had some free time until the afternoon. He couldn't just leave a girl in a state like that. He was a gentleman after all.

He sighed. "Alright. I'll mail you my address. Just be careful on your way and make sure no-one sees you. Wear a hoodie or something. Remember my house is a target for paparazzi these days."

"Thank you. I'll be careful."

Zen ended the call and put his head in his hands. What the hell was going on?


	16. Consolation Prize

I'm going to Poland on holiday and won't be back until 2nd December so updates will likely happen at the end of next week, or asap when I have fresh ideas Perhaps the Polish scenery will inspire me as well.

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 16: Consolation Prize**

Luciel was still showering away, the steam rising from underneath the door. Thankfully for Eun-ji, the sound of the water worked as a way of drowning out any other noises she was making. Flustered, she rifled through Rika's closet and threw of her clothes into a weekend bag. After all, it wasn't as though she'd had time to prepare an entire suitcase in advance since everything had happened so quickly. Fortunately, as she had discovered, the majority of Rika's clothes fit her pretty well. Following Zen's recommendation, she found a hooded top and put it on over a t-shirt, with a long patchwork-style skirt, some leggings and a pair of old sneakers. Seeing herself in the mirror, the outfit looked kind of weird, but she really didn't care. This apartment was no place for her right now and she just needed to get out. She slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses. It was the middle of winter, but the sun was beating down hard on Seoul that morning. Plus, she knew that her identity should be kept a secret if she was going to venture out alone.

Taking one last sorrowful look at the bathroom door, she sighed deeply, clenched her fists by her sides and headed out.

A few minutes later, Luciel stepped out of the shower, towelling his hair off thoroughly and trying to focus on the wall in front of him. Without his glasses, and with the build-up of condensation, he couldn't really see anything at all. The hot water on his skin had woken him up just a little, but he was no less relaxed about the whole situation. He tried to mentally prepare himself for what he would say to Eun-ji when he opened that bathroom door. It was all too true that he hadn't been kind to her, but all he needed to do was justify his reasoning more clearly or she would despise him forever. Moving over to the sink, he splashed some cold water over his face for a swift change in temperature. Gasping as he realised just how freezing it was, he glared at his reflection in the mirror; a blurry mass of red and yellow, melding into some kind of nauseating surrealist painting. He dried himself completely and threw on a fresh shirt and jeans.

Reluctantly, he poked his head around the side of the doorframe. Nothing.

 _Hmm. Maybe she's in the bedroom?_

Expecting to find her lying on the bed reading a book to occupy herself, he checked to see. Nothing.

"Eun-ji?" he tried, being cautious to keep his tone calmer than before. "Where are you?"

Then, his phone started vibrating on the kitchen counter and he ran in to see who was calling.

"Him _again?_ " he swiped the screen to answer. "Vanderwood. What do you want? I just got dressed and I'm about to start the project. Can't you get off my case for like … five seconds?"

"I can still see you," replied Vanderwood. "If you're looking for the girl, she's gone."

"What girl?" Luciel wanted to pretend that he shouldn't know.

Vanderwood wasn't taking any of his bullshit. "Luciel … Don't try and worm your way out of admitting that you were with a girl in there. I saw her as well."

"That's none of your business," said Luciel, glaring up at the camera hidden in the corner of the kitchen. "Why the hell are you even still at my house?"

"It's my business as long as I'm your manager," Vanderwood stated. "I don't want to know exactly what happened last night, but she looked upset when she left."

Luciel felt the rage rise up inside him again. "Yeah? And whose fault do you think that is? What do you care anyway? So long as I work, my private life has nothing to do with you."

"Luciel, don't blame me for this. I'm only following Mr. P's orders. And I do care … actually."

"Well save your feelings, Vanderwood. I don't want them."

"Uh … obviously I didn't mean it like _that_ …" he began. "No … I really don't want to imagine you and me doing-"

"Ughh. Shut up!" Barely acknowledging the slightly homoerotic undertones of their conversation. "What the fuck were we talking about in the first place?" He was too pissed off to care about this.

"The girl." Vanderwood reminded him.

"Oh, right … well anyway she's gone. I guess it means I can concentrate on my work. Aren't you glad?" But Luciel wasn't glad. Not at all.

"Just get it done and we'll just forget about what happened."

"Can't you track her for me while I'm working, to see where she went?"

"Track her?" Vanderwood echoed, sounding concerned. "Why do you want me to track her? Weren't you _trying_ to get rid of her?"

"Whether I was or not I … just want to know that she's alright. She wasn't supposed to leave this apartment. It's a security risk right now. The RFA app got hacked into and we still don't know how she ended up here to begin with. I can't explain properly."

"Why should I help you with a personal matter? I've got other things to be getting on with."

Luciel sighed. "Please Vanderwood. Just this once … do something nice."

Vanderwood laughed. "Just this once, huh?" He thought about it for a second. Could it really do any harm? Anyway, he was an expert tracker and could get one of his guys on it pronto. "Fine. I'll remember that, and you owe me. But you have to promise me you'll finish up this job by 7pm tonight. If you let your mind wander too far, you'll make mistakes, and you know where mistakes lead you …"

"I understand, but please tell me you'll keep looking for her and report back to me as soon as you find out where she stops," begged Luciel. "And don't tell Mr. P anything about this … okay?"

"Is it so much of a big secret?"

"Not exactly, but I still don't fully trust Mr. P. He's elusive as always. I mean, I've never even met the guy despite the fact that he's the boss. Honestly, I'm always on edge when I think how covert this whole setup is."

Vanderwood coughed. "Well, that makes two of us. But we can't just talk, let's at least take action and do what we can to keep him happy. Do good work, Luciel. Your country is relying on you."

"I guess you're right …" Luciel agreed, although a little reluctantly. "It's an important job and someone's got to do it. I just wish it didn't have to be me."

"You signed the deal, Luciel. There's no getting out of it."

Vanderwood didn't need to remind him about the unjust conditions of his contract. "I'll go and make a start on the database. Talk to you later."

Luciel hung up and stared at the PC screen in the living room.

Time to get to work.

 _Eun-ji. Please be safe._


	17. In Safe Hands

Okay, so I got too keen and my fingers wouldn't stop typing. But I really have to go and pack my suitcase now. Enjoy, enjoy. I love you all for reading! Thank you!

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 17: In Safe Hands**

Eun-ji arrived at the address Zen had given her. It had been pretty easy to locate and only a fifteen-minute walk away from Rika's apartment. Google Maps was a life-saver at times like these. Ensuring that her hood and sunglasses were aptly covering her face, she approached the front door and pressed the buzzer. There were a few seconds of silence until she heard the clunking of someone picking up the intercom receiver.

"Who is it?" came Zen's voice.

"It's me. I don't think anyone followed me."

"Oh, that's a relief. Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh just now. I get suspicious whenever anyone presses that buzzer. Those journalists are so meddling. I'm glad you made it. Can you let yourself in? The door should be unlocked."

"Ok. I'm coming in." Eun-ji pulled down on the door handle slowly, easing her way into the hall.

Zen raced down the stairs, eager to finally meet this mysterious girl who had made her presence felt over the past few days. As he reached the last step, he saw her.

"Emily … "

Eun-ji just stood there, a little uncomfortable about suddenly being in another man's home, especially one who was becoming so popular among the musicals fangirls. She knew he possessed an unearthly attractiveness, but she didn't expect him to be this smouldering hot, even in the simple striped top he was sporting.

Zen smiled warmly. "Well, you don't have to just stand there. Come in." He eyed her haphazardly constructed outfit. "I see you got dressed in a hurry this morning." He covered his mouth, trying his very best not to laugh at how ridiculous she looked.

"Oh …. Is something funny?" she said, a little perplexed by his reaction.

"No, no. I just …" he paused and took another look at her. "… your outfit is quite amusing. Those are Rika's clothes aren't they?"

Eun-ji did that thing where she cocked her head to the side. "How did you know that?"

"Because I remember her wearing these and thinking … they're just not right for you," he said. "Plus, you wouldn't have any of your own clothes with you. That wouldn't make sense."

"You're right … since I didn't expect to end up here."

Zen moved closer to her. "Well, I for one, am glad you did end up as an RFA member, however it happened." He removed her sunglasses and folded them up, placing them onto the small credenza near the entrance. "It's not sunny inside. You can take these off."

Eun-ji stared up at him. His cheeks were already tinged with red and his eyed widened as he noticed how sweet and innocent she looked.

"Are you alright? Do you have a fever?" she asked, completely misreading the atmosphere.

Zen flapped his hands around. "Uh no, I mean yes, I'm fine. Just … a bit hot."

"I'll take this hoodie off as well. It is pretty warm in here. Do you have the heating cranked up too high or something?" She removed the hoodie and folded it up into a neat shape, leaving it on the credenza with the sunglasses.

"Actually … the heating isn't on. This place is just naturally insulated."

"Well, I guess that you're so hot that you don't need heating, am I right?" Eun-ji chuckled, feeling a bit smug that she had made a fangirlish comment.

That wasn't what Zen needed to hear. It was true, of course. If it wasn't, he wouldn't spend so much of his free time posting selfies to his Twitter feed and getting uncountable likes and retweets. But why did she have to declare it in such a playful tone? It was cruel, considering how she felt about Luciel.

Zen faked a smile, trying to accommodate her as best he could. "Anyway. Can I get you something to drink?" he asked, leading her into the living room.

"Do you have any alcohol?" she asked.

Zen was taken aback by her request. "WHAT?"

"Anything alcoholic?" she repeated.

"No. I mean, I do have beer … but a lady shouldn't be drinking at this time of morning, it's bad for your skin and your health! Can't I just get you some tea or something?"

"I don't care about my skin right now! I'm just angry with Seven and feel like drinking." It came out far more directly than she had wanted it to. Seeing Zen's concerned expression, she sighed and rubbed her face to try and snap herself out of the funk. "I-I'm sorry … you're right. It's not the right thing to do. Tea will be fine. Thank you."

"Alright. Take a seat and I'll go and make you some. You can have a look at those magazines on the table if you like. They're mostly issues featuring my photo shoots or interviews, but there's also some other entertainment magazines … just in case you're fed up of my beautiful face already." He walked into the kitchen and left her to it.

Eun-ji studied the pile of publications he was referring to. She picked up a copy of the Korean version of GQ magazine that was at the top and started to flick through it. She reached the fifth page and saw a stunning double-page spread with an interview and a picture of Zen tied up and half-shirtless for some musical called "Promiscuous Jalapeno Topping". She ran her gaze over his perfectly-formed torso and the pitiful expression of torture on his face.

 _Wow … he really takes care of himself!_

Zen returned a couple of minutes later with a tray of tea and some rice cakes, placing them down on the table.

"Here you go. Help yourself, and if you want more, just let me know."

"Thanks, Zen."

Noticing the magazine she was reading, Zen blushed and averted his eyes slightly. "Oh, I see you're reading the article about Promiscuous Jalapeno Topping? That musical was … an interesting experience, but it really moved my career forwards, so I always feel grateful for that opportunity."

Eun-ji couldn't resist giving him some stick. "Reading the article? I mean, I was actually just checking out this photo of you," she said, pointing to the image. "Do you like being tied up?"

Zen really didn't know what was going through this girl's mind, but decided it was best to give a vague response to that question. "Hmm … no, not really."

"No? It doesn't look like you're enjoying it in this musical either …" she observed. "Would you like to be tied up?"

Some very bad thoughts crossed Zen's mind and he mentally reprimanded himself, trying to distract himself from getting turned on.

"Tied up … by you?"

Eun-ji blushed. "No!" she said, in quite a loud voice. This made Zen jump. "I mean … no, that's … that's not what I meant."

"If it's you I guess I wouldn't mind it," he said, immediately regretting his decision to speak so rashly. His mind had switched to autopilot and the switch was breaking.

 _Oh shit, I said too much. Emily … don't take me seriously!_

Eun-ji was too stunned to answer right away and just held the magazine open in the same place. "Really?"

"Oh, well … but that's not going to happen anyway, so just forget that I ever said it." He tried to laugh it off and poured some tea into a cup for her. He didn't want to give her more bait.

"Zen," said Eun-ji, in all seriousness. "Do you … want to try it?"

 _What is she on? What is she thinking? Why is she making me answer these questions? She only wanted to talk to me about the situation with Seven, so why … why does she want to torture both my body and my mind? I need to be sensible and draw a line here._

"Emily … I really think we should consider the consequences of letting those kinds of fantasies escape our imaginations."

Eun-ji didn't know what she was talking about either. It just came out, and she wasn't sure this would be the right decision. It could all be nothing more than a big, fat mistake to have even mentioned the idea.

A mistake. Just like last night had been. Or so Luciel seemed to believe.


	18. Kink One Point Zero

Thank you for waiting for this chapter. It gets quite intense here, so now I'm definitely changing the rating of this story to "M" - but what the hell? It was already a bit like that anyway. Enjoy and please feel free to leave your thoughts.

Also, I'm sorry Zen, please forgive me for writing this about you ;D

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 18: Kink 1.0**

Zen studied the expression on Eun-ji's face. Did she really want to mess around with him after what had just happened with Luciel? He couldn't believe that her heart would change so quickly.

"Emily, listen. I don't know what's going through your head right now, but … what about Seven? Aren't you worried about hurting his feelings?" he said, a radiant sense of warmth coming through in his voice.

Eun-ji furrowed her brows. "No, I'm not worried about that! He hurt me first, reeling me in and then just pushing me away so selfishly! There's no reason for me to be involved with someone like that." She took a deep breath and met Zen's eyes. "I'll have all of you, right here, right now."

Zen was in shock hearing her words. How could she be so forward with him about engaging in, what was obviously meant to be a sexual act.

"You know, I'm the kind of guy who likes to take things slow. Going out on dates, getting to know each other a bit … I mean, do we … have to rush into _this_ sort of thing? Even if … even if you really do like me."

Somehow he started to feel embarrassed about his gentlemanly side. Beside his busy work schedule, maybe this was why he hadn't had any luck finding a girlfriend recently. His mind was flooded with thoughts.

 _Don't women like to be serenaded with flowers, movie tickets, nice dresses and romantic home-cooked dinners? I want to save her from the kind of men who would just take advantage of the situation._

 _But what about Seven?_

Eun-ji inched closer to him. "Like I said, I want _you_." She took one hand and ran her fingers through his hair, removing the thin band that was keeping his pristine white locks in place. His hair fell around his shoulders and across his back. He looked almost angelic, if not for the devilish red of his eyes. He was so tall that she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach his ear, just like she had done with Luciel. "I want you right now," she purred, teasingly.

Zen was flustered and tried to keep calm, but she was already making him feel vulnerable.

"E-Emily. I'm so afraid … that the beast within is going to wake up soon."

"Then let it!" Eun-ji declared, a little triumphantly. "I want to witness the beast within you."

Zen's face reddened and his pulse quickened tremendously. "Do you really not mind if I get turned on by this? It's not a very gentlemanly thing to do after all …"

Slipping both hands around his waist, she could already feel the strong, muscular shape of his abs without even needing to move very far. "Why the hell would I mind? I _want_ you to be aroused. Let me give you the pleasure you've been seeking."

"No, well … it's just … you seem very proficient at this …"

Eun-ji laughed. "You must be joking. My first time was just yesterday," she noted, not ceasing as she worked her way up his torso, lightly squeezing around each and every detail.

 _No way! Seven was her first? And now she's all over ME like chocolate sauce engulfing a brownie! How did this happen?_

Now he was even more curious. Was it just her hormones trying to find their feet? Did she just find him insanely attractive and wanted to live out the fantasy just this once? Or was there something more to it than that?

"So, you're practically a virgin then?" he asked, a slight sheepish grin spanning his face.

Eun-ji scoffed. "It's not like I wanted to be that way … really."

"It wasn't a criticism," he confirmed. "I actually think that's a good thing."

"Are you trying to compliment me?" she said, debating whether she should feel offended by his comment or not.

"I guess so." He actually wondered about this himself. He turned his face in the other direction slightly to break eye contact for a moment. "But, to tell you the truth … my first time was when I was 17. Back in those days, I was more rebellious, in a motorbike gang, hanging around with some bad people and well …I met this really cute girl and one thing led to another and-"

Eun-ji pulled his face back gently so that they were locking eyes again and put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. I don't need to know the details … Hyun. You're changing the subject a bit, aren't you?"

He gulped as she spoke his real name. It had been a long time since anybody had used it. Her obscure, yet alluring hazel eyes were already starting to rouse the beast within him, there was no denying that.

Guiding him into his own kitchen, Eun-ji pushed him hard against the oven. Their bodies were so close to one another now, and Zen was looking down at her as she gazed up lustfully at his handsome face. His eyes, which had been filled with doubt, were now like burning fiery orbs ignited by the physical connection that had been fostered between them. The t-shirt she was wearing was slightly too loose and he got a sneak preview of her breasts as they pressed softly against his firm upper body.

"Emily. You're really waking up that beast now, you know. You're so small and yet the way you captivate me is so intense."

"I'm so 'small'?" she echoed, looking a little pained.

Zen lost his sense of composure for a second as he noticed what he had said. "Oh no, I didn't mean your breasts or anything. It's just that-"

"Really? I didn't even mention them. You brought that up by yourself," she said. "Do you not like small ones?" Eun-ji made more of a conscious effort to press against him, letting him feel her womanhood. She hoped this might convince him otherwise.

"No, it's not that!" he almost yelled, trying to prove his innocence. "Well, I mean … if I have to have a preference, maybe I do prefer them bigger," he admitted, embarrassed to be telling her the truth of his very shallow thought process.

With that, Eun-ji tore away her t-shirt, exposing her red lace bra, which was also Rika's. "Take a good, long look at these!" she asserted. "Is anything wrong with them?"

Zen felt his nose tingle and twitch as he eyed the perfectly round, small breasts before him. The blood rushed to his head and he started to feel faint. But gripping onto the handle of the oven door, he managed to prop himself up.

Her skirt was also starting to inch its way up her leg as she brought one knee up and wound herself around his hips like a snake. He was now fully aware of the throbbing bulge that had formed beneath the tracksuit bottoms he was wearing and she was grinding her thigh into it, knowingly.

"Nnhh …" he whimpered, unable to contain his animal instincts.

"Well?" said Eun-ji, eager for a response. "Are they any good now?"

Zen spluttered a little as he tried to catch his breath. "Y-Yes. They're actually … beautiful." He smiled as best he could despite the massive sense of discomfort that had graced his trousers. "I regret saying anything, so please … please stop teasing me now."

She put her left hand onto his crotch, feeling how his cock was practically as hard as his torso. "You want me to stop teasing you?" she giggled. "I don't think so. Didn't I say I was going to tie you up?"

Remembering how this had all began, Zen's head spun with dread. What was she going to make him do?

"Emily. I … I don't mind being tied up, but I just want you to know that this is not something I do regularly. I usually go a bit softer when it comes to sex."

"Who says we're going to have sex?", she said, throwing him an unnervingly innocent glance. "Should I let you have me?"

Zen was confused. She'd just forcefully ripped off her own t-shirt, they were up against each other like superglue, and he was overloading with desire. What else could all this possibly lead to if not sex? He moved forwards and took her face in his warm, slender hands.

"I think you should let me have you, because I really can't take the suspense anymore."

Eun-ji was a little taken aback by this. His eyes were serious and his body was impatient. He seemed to be burning his deep passion into her, flame by flame. She wondered what she was doing.

"I want to tie you up," she repeated, convinced that it was her desire to own him.

Zen understood. "Okay. Alright, I'll let you tie me up if that's what you really want to try. But please don't go overboard with it. After all, it's part of my job to keep myself looking good, not just for this sort of thing or for my own vanity." He closed his eyes and drew her in for a kiss, but she stopped him midway.

"Hmm. I don't think you deserve to kiss me just yet", she teased, pouting a little. "First, let me find something to restrain you with. Then, I'm going to tie you to this oven. Don't move a muscle." She fondled his hair lightly before letting it run slowly through the gaps between her fingers.

His heart fluttered. "Hey! What do you mean? I just wanted to kiss you …"

She brought her face close to his and their noses touched. But she wouldn't kiss him. "Don't be so greedy, my little Hyun."

He smirked. "'Little?' You haven't seen anything yet. I have a treat in store for you."

Eun-ji hitched up her skirt and flipped it as she walked away, revealing her matching red lace underpants. Zen balked as he caught sight of how they fitted her so perfectly, not leaving much to the imagination. She had prepared for her revenge on Luciel so well. Her acting was even more perfect than his own acting career and he hadn't even realised.

Zen was stuck with his back against the oven, his body frozen in excruciating wait. He didn't know what she would do if he were to move. He was obeying her every command. It was a strange feeling, but one that he might be able to get used to if she would continue to indulge him like this, and then perhaps it would develop into something more like a relationship.

What they were doing was certainly backwards, but he figured, it all could work out for them. He knew that things would be awkward between him and Luciel if and when this came to light, but right now, this was like some heavenly dream sequence. The beast within would not be tamed until his hunger was completely satisfied.

Eun-ji returned from the other room, her skirt removed and her lace underpants were starkly visible. They showed off her legs brilliantly and Zen obviously appreciated the beauty of the young woman standing before him.

"I found this tie," she said, showing the black silk one she was referring to. "But you don't seem like the type of guy who'd wear a tie."

"Oh _that?_ " He tried to remember why it was in the house. "Jumin left it here once when he had to go on a business trip. We had been discussing how he wanted to help me out financially, to get my career jump-started and then-"

Eun-ji sauntered over to him and put her hand over his mouth, stopping him from talking. "Shhh. I don't need to know the details."

He tried to take her hand away as he mumbled something nonsensical.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Managing to free his face, he ended up gasping for breath. "Why won't you just let me finish the story?"

She yanked both of his arms above his head.

"Okay, okay. So you don't need to know the details, but please don't be too rough on me, okay?"

Silence.

"Emily … What are you doing?"

Eun-ji took the silk tie and wrapped it around the upper oven door handle and his wrists, loosely at first. She observed the way his arms were so firm and manly, but yet so slender in appearance. Then, his white hair was just falling around him in such a delicate way, it was awe-inspiring, almost mystical. He was somehow even hotter, being all submissive like this. She tightened the bonds around his hands, ensuring that it really wouldn't come loose.

"What are you going to do to me?" he said.

She wanted him.

Even more with every second.

To suffer.

She walked over to the drawers, rifling through them for something interesting. As she bent over, purposefully, to check a bottom drawer, Zen couldn't help but drool at the sight of her ass; it was so perfectly adorned in dark red lace and he had to admit that red was one of those colours that turned him on immensely. That bulge in his trousers wasn't going away anytime soon and it wasn't like he could just sort the problem out by himself. He felt like she'd kill him if he tried. How long did she plan to make him wait?

Finally, Eun-ji stood up, seemingly having found what she was looking for.

"What do you have there?" questioned Zen, concerned that she might be using something too dangerous to 'torture' him.

She showed him the implement in her hand. A whisk. "I'll use this to teach you a lesson," she exclaimed, wandering back over to where he was confined.

"Maybe I'll whisk you away instead," Zen punned, much to his own amusement. He let off a slight chuckle as he said it. "Ah, I quite liked that one."

Eun-ji looked annoyed. "Well, I didn't like it! Don't even dare to make stupid puns in front of me!" she bit his nose quite hard and brought the whisk quickly down onto the aching member beneath his tracksuit bottoms.

"Shit!" he yelled. "Wh-what the hell was _that_?" He wasn't even going to try and be a gentleman at this point. "That fucking hurt! What are you thinking?"

"You've been such a bad boy. I had to punish you." There was hatred in her eyes now.

Zen's heart was beating at such a ridiculous pace now. It was no longer lust, but fear that was crippling his insides. "B-but. If we're going to play this game, can't you at least only go as far as teasing me a bit? Please, please, please don't use physical violence like that!"

She was insistent. "Did you really think I'd tie you up if I didn't want to inflict violence on you?"

"Not all BDSM has to be like this Emily …" Zen's eyes were still watering from the pain in his nose and crotch. He looked so resentful and timid all of a sudden, like a white rabbit caught in a car headlight. "Just reconsider your strategy here … that's all I'm asking."

 _Really … what is she thinking of doing to me?_

Eun-ji crouched down and pulled everything he was wearing on his bottom half to the floor. Zen let out a gasp as he felt a brisk chill whip around his naked flesh without warning. "Why should I listen to you?" she said, monotonously. "I'll just enjoy playing with your body. You don't even know my real name and you never will."

Zen raised an eyebrow. "You mean, you're not really called Emily?" he mused, but then shook this revelation away, returning his attention to the more pressing concern of her domineering demeanour. "Whatever your real name is … you can't just use me as you please. We have to create a level playing field during this kind of thing. You know, there should be rules that we can both agree on."

Eun-ji fumed with disgust. "Oh? Is that right? Don't you think you're just being a bit pretentious since you have more experience than me?"

Zen was lost for words. "Not at all. I don't … understand what's happened to you? You were such a nice, sweet and innocent girl before. Please tell me why you're being like this!" he begged.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU DICTATE TO ME! JUST LET ME DO WHAT I WANT. FUCKKK!" Eun-ji screamed at the top of her lungs and repeatedly hit Zen with the whisk in several places. The harsh beatings were leaving marks all over him. He felt tears welling up in his eyes for the first time in so many years. The swearing was equally as biting coming from her mouth as the strikes themselves.

 _Stop it …. Please … you're damaging me … and I can't get the message through to you …_

"Emily … STOP IT NOW! UNTIE ME RIGHT AWAY!" The only way he could think to reach her was to match her loudness and conviction.

Suddenly, she ceased and dropped the whisk onto the lacquered floor beneath her. Then, she proceeded to unfasten the tie around his wrists and the handle. She hung her head low, her beautiful brown hair falling listlessly over Zen's torso. Her body shook furiously as she let bitter tears flow out and seep through his clothes.

She tried to speak, but couldn't form the words. "Zen … Zen … I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Zen's heart calmed down a bit. Flexing his hands to return the sensation to them, he reluctantly placed a hand onto her shoulder to comfort her. "No need to apologise, although I'll admit that you really did go too far with things. I just know that you're hurting inside, aren't you? Looks like Seven's really gone and messed with you."

She shook her head in denial. "No, it's not his fault. It's down to me to change things with him."

"Well it is, and it isn't … I mean, his job is confidential in nature, so he can't just start a relationship with someone so easily. I think you need to recognise that." He paused and rubbed her arm a little to warm her up. "On the other hand, I think he needs to have more faith in himself. There's something wrong with that dude if he won't appreciate you." Zen was still slightly aroused, even after the beatings, but this was absolutely the wrong time to take advantage of her so he refrained; a true gentleman even at a time like this.

Eun-ji looked at Zen, a little understandingly. She was so fragile that he feared she might break at any moment.

"Don't give me those eyes," he said. "Or I'll want to keep you for myself and take away all your anxieties." He laughed to hide the pain that was coursing through his veins. "After all, I understand what's it's like to be shut out, but … I also know that I'm not the one you're supposed to be with."

"Zen. This must have all been so much harder for you to stomach, but … I'm sorry, you're right and … thank you."

Smiling, Zen felt a tear fall down his cheek. "Yeah, you're going to be fine."


	19. Atonement

Here's the next chapter. I may be a little uploading slow due to work stuff etc. (blah, blah, blah) and I am still figuring out how this should end, so please bear with me. But thank you all once again for reading. Please do let me know what you think. I've been quite harsh on Zen so far, but trust me it's necessary for the progression of her relationship with the one and only hacker extraordinaire (and currently a massive dick, right?)

\- Mel

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 19: Atonement**

Eun-ji slipped her clothes back on, silently cursing herself for the mistake she'd, yet again, allowed herself to make. At least she and Zen hadn't actually gone as far as having full-on sex. Under the circumstances, that fact may have been her only consolation. The time she'd spent with Luciel yesterday had been much more precious to her. It had been deeper, more fulfilling, and a strangely calming experience, all the while motivating her to be a stronger person. It was indescribable, but they had shared something that couldn't be seen by the naked eye, no matter how hard you squinted. It was like a mysterious worm, tunnelling its way into both of them just at the right moment. But because of Luciel's cold attitude, it seemed as though things were already over between them. He was far too busy to pay attention to her, and she wanted his attention far too much.

Zen limped sorely into the bathroom and locked the door firmly behind him. Despite the physical torture his body had received, he was still pretty hard and knew he had to get rid of the arousal somehow. It didn't seem right to be this turned on when the girl he liked was being so indifferent towards him. If it was Luciel she wanted, then Zen would have to make do with fantasy, pretending she wasn't even there. Maybe he could make it seem like she was just one of those cute characters in a dating sim or something.

He moved his hands over the length of his shaft, stroking the thing cautiously and giving himself the pleasure he had so desperately desired from her. He closed his eyes and imagined that her slender fingers were gently curling themselves around his sizable cock, feeling his heavy pulse as the blood undulated around it. He pictured her face, flushed in a light red, staring lustfully up into his eyes as he looked down at her beautifully well-proportioned body. The fact that he preferred larger breasts meant nothing to him anymore. That had already been blown out of the window during the last hour.

As much as he enjoyed visualising her about her while he jerked off, engaging in this activity slowly wasn't going to satisfy him. Gripping his cock harder now, he pumped away at it passionately with expert precision. This caused him to work up a significant sweat and he felt his hands become clammy and hot with each movement. He panted as the pleasure rose up inside him and his seed inched its way up to the emergency exit. Letting go, he came violently into the toilet bowl. Breathing a sigh of sweet relief, his cock twitched with satisfaction at the much-needed and timely release.

It seemed so surprising to him that a regular kitchen whisk could have left behind such a harsh burn on his skin. He winced as he wiped a cotton pad soaked with astringent over the wounds that adorned his torso. It stung like a bitch. This certainly wouldn't look good during that day's meeting with Chan-wook Lee, the most admired musical professional in South Korea. After all, Zen's upcoming performance would involve being shirtless for at least a good ten minutes – it was necessary, they said.

 _These had better heal up fast … or there might even be a scandal …_

Zen was used to being objectified, but his stunning looks were just a part of the reason he was so successful. Thinking back, Luciel was the one who had helped him create that video, an instrumental move for sparking interest in Zen across the country. He wanted to give something back to Luciel, as thanks for his support, but he'd willingly engaged in kinky "fun" time with Eun-ji, someone his friend probably already didn't want to lose.

 _How can I call that an expression of gratitude?_

Eun-ji sat herself down in the lounge, glancing sorrowfully at the pile of fashion and entertainment magazines on the table, regretting the situation that had come about because of that one photo. She took the teacup that she had been drinking from before and thirstily gulped down the remainder of the now ice-cold tea, grimacing a little as she tasted something bitter lurking at the bottom. As she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of Rika's hoodie, she could think of nothing better to do than bury her head in her hands and cry.

Hearing her painful sobs from the bathroom, Zen quickly unbolted the door, making sure he had tidied up his mess appropriately.

He poked his head around the door frame. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice still soft and warm, despite everything that had happened between them. Maybe he just felt more relaxed, since he didn't have to hold it all in anymore.

Eun-ji looked up at him, letting her hands fall limply into her lap. Wet and fragile, her eyes glistened with regret. "Z-Zen … I-I …"

Zen carefully waltzed over to where she was sitting and took her hand. It was so small inside his that he almost wanted to re-kindle a burning fire and let himself melt all over again. But it was useless to even consider it. Now, she felt cold and lifeless, like all the energy had been sapped from her body.

He squeezed her hand lightly. "I know what you're trying to say, and it hurts but … I forgive you, okay?"

She shook her head from side to side, defiantly. "I'm such a bitch!" she exclaimed. "What on earth have I done?"

"You're … a bitch?" Zen pondered this for a second. "No. I think you're just confused," he reasoned. "We can all get confused sometimes."

Eun-ji didn't understand how he could be so pleasant towards her at a time like this. She'd used him in the most horrible way she could think of; attacking him and then leaving him horny … and heartbroken.

"Maybe … maybe I am just confused after all," she admitted under her breath, still heavy with emotion. Her other hand was pressed against her chest and she could feel the way her heart was beating the fear into her, pump after pump, just below the surface.

"So there's no need to be so hard on yourself." He paused and let his eyes glaze over with melancholy. "Please, just confirm it for me one more time. It's Seven you want to be with, isn't it?"

Eun-ji felt awful putting the guy through this, but she had no choice but to tell the truth. "Yes. It's him I want. I can't even begin to explain it, but I just … I'm sorry Zen."

Zen tucked some of the loose strands of hair behind her ears and smiled. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I got my hopes up and … that just wasn't fair. You should be with him. I'm certain he needs you more than I could really ever need you."

 _That's not true, but I'll pretend it is._

She tipped her head to the side, teardrops still clinging to the sides of her eyes. "Thank you, Hyun."

He laughed, a blush sweeping across his face. "Don't use my real name so flippantly like that, or ... you just never know what will happen. As you're aware, the beast within still hasn't been fully tamed yet!" Somehow, no matter how much he was hurting, he could still manage to tease her a little.

"Okay, I'll be a good girl from now on," she promised, making a peace sign with her fingers. "And my name's Eun-ji, by the way, Eun-ji Moon."

"Oh?" he looked impressed. "That name is so nice. It really suits you. Seven, the bastard, he seriously better treat you well!"

"I hope so …" she said, half-wondering whether it would really happen. "Anyway, I should get going," said Eun-ji, standing up and making her way to the door.

"Me too. I need to practice my lines for the group read-through with Director Lee today. I don't want to make any stupid mistakes with the intonation."

"Oh, I hadn't realised your schedule for the day. That makes me feel even worse but … good luck! I know you're so talented that you'll do well!" she cheered him on, able to do so more willingly now.

Zen imagined the kind of emotional support he'd get from her if her heart was in a different place. "Thanks," he said, still appreciative of the thought. "Off you go then."

He ushered her into the main entrance and opened the door for her to leave. She put on her sunglasses and hoodie and waved goodbye. It was clear that she was still displaying signs of fragility, and Zen wasn't entirely happy about letting her go back to the apartment by herself. In any case, he felt it was critical to contact Luciel immediately.

Closing the front door, he rushed back inside and dug out his cell phone from underneath a pile of clothes that he'd slung onto the side that morning. Luciel's number was saved on speed dial, so he pressed the button and waited, anxious to give him some advice.

"Come on, Seven. Answer the phone damnit!"

Nothing. He waited a few more rings.

 _Agent 707 is doing what his boss is telling to do so don't worry! Please send your messages to Vanderwood-_

"Seven! Turn on your fucking phone for once!" Zen yelled to himself, throwing the phone down onto the sofa cushions in annoyance. It rebounded and fell onto the floor.

He sighed, stood up and took the musical script from the table. Practising his lines was his priority right now. His concern alone wouldn't get those two any further towards a romantic conclusion.

 _Be safe, Eun-ji Moon. You deserve better than this._


	20. Captured

**Ciphertext – Chapter 20: Captured**

Eun-ji walked briskly to the other side of the road, making sure the hoodie was completely covering her head so she wouldn't be seen by curious passers-by. Her hair hung like curtains over her face, which further shielded her from view. The man working at the fish-shaped bun stand briefly studied her as she walked past, but as a customer approached, he quickly let his mind wander back where it belonged.

Since she didn't want to go back to Rika's apartment straight away, Eun-ji decided to take an alternative route and headed towards the nearest shopping mall. That should help kill some time. Maybe Luciel's head would have cooled off by the time she returned and they could have a proper discussion. For now, a long walk around the city would give her a chance to collect her feelings together, reflect upon what had happened with Zen and come up with a game plan to win Luciel's heart for good, no matter what it took.

 _Saeyoung … I won't believe that you want to push me away so easily. I haven't known you for long, but … you're better than this. You're smart, attractive, interesting and definitely the most hilariously random guy I have ever met. How on earth can I stop liking you? So don't ignore me, please!_

Eun-ji wanted to confront him like this to prove exactly how serious she was, but she knew he wouldn't hear her. Or if he did, he wouldn't listen to what she said. If she went to the apartment now, he'd go and drown out her voice with music and his eyes would only be focused on the never-ending lines of data and code that flooded the screen. It would be like trying to communicate with a brick wall, and it was utterly pointless.

She turned the corner, her attention focused solely on consulting her smartphone for GPS directions to the mall. The sound of heavy, hypnotising footsteps grew louder behind her and before she knew it, a strong hand had taken hold of her left shoulder.

"Eun-ji Moon," stated the man behind her, matter-of-factly. He placed his free hand onto her other shoulder. "Stop right there. You're coming with me," he crooned into her ear. His voice was nasally yet deep and Eun-ji could feel his warm breath tickling her cheek. His tone was especially intense. It was a voice she didn't recognise and he spoke with a slightly foreign-sounding accent. But although her deep-rooted intuition told her to be wary of him, she had to admit she was a little curious to know more.

 _What am I even supposed to say in this situation?_

"I-I-I …." She tried to speak, but the words seemed to disappear before they had even formed.

The man tightened his grip on her shoulders to anchor her there, so she wouldn't try to make a careless escape. The fact that he hadn't even needed to confirm her name scared her the most. He already knew exactly who she was, there was no doubt in his mind. Slowly turning her head so she could see the stranger, her heart raced with fear of what might follow. He allowed her to face him but he still kept a firm grip on her shoulders.

Looking up at him, Eun-ji guessed he was around 180cm in height. He wore a green beanie hat with strands of his longish jet black hair poking out from underneath the material. His nose and mouth were obscured by a large white surgical mask. She met his gaze, his piercing, cold eyes laced with a dark brown hue. His clothing was simple; a pair of jeans, a long black coat and a white scarf. He also wore black gloves, but that was understandable seeing as it was so cold outside.

"Are you ready to come with me, to a place I like to call 'Paradise'?" he said, his voice deepening slightly. "If you try and scream or run away, I'll taser you." He pulled back his coat to reveal a taser gun tucked into his pocket. "And you don't want that, do you?"

Finally, Eun-ji found her words again. "N-no. I'm not going anywhere! Just tell me who you are and why the hell you know my name!"

He laughed smugly, removing his hands from her shoulders. He took her chin, forcing her to look at him directly. "You have a bit of a penchant for danger, don't you … Eun-ji Moon?"

"What do you mean? I don't like dangerous situations at all," she confirmed.

"Well, that's just not true, is it? I know that you're attracted to danger and that's why you're still trying to win him back." He ran his fingers through her hair, playfully.

"H-him?" she tried her best to feign innocence but realised that she was failing miserably.

He moved in closer, his nose almost pressing against hers. "Don't play dumb with me, girl. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about …" she lied. "Can't you please just tell me who you are?"

The man ignored her question again and continued. "As someone who's been getting shall we say … 'intimate' with Luciel, you should have no problem agreeing to my conditions."

Eun-ji felt herself growing hot with embarrassment and fear.

 _He knows about us! But what's his connection to Saeyoung? I can't trust this man. It sounds like he knows too much._

"No, it's not like that. There's nothing going on. We're just acquaintances." At that moment, it felt important to make it seem like she and Luciel were in a completely platonic relationship.

"Oh? And I thought you were all spoony over him, because … what was it you two got up to last night again? Oh yeah, you guys had SEX!" He purposely over-emphasised that last word. "Do you have a regular habit of fucking your acquaintances, or is Mr. Hacker 707 just a special case?" The grin on his face was so natural it was nauseating.

Eun-ji scowled at him. She felt sick to her stomach. "H-How do you even know about that?" Although the question had come out automatically, she really didn't want to find out the answer.

His eyes looked complacent. "You're such a bad girl, not answering me properly." He paused and sighed. "Ugh, but since you're so cute I'll tell you. Basically, it was far too easy to hack into the cameras that Luciel had hidden in Rika's apartment. Seriously, it wasn't any problem at all, I just tweaked the code here and there and BOOM! – immediate access. That boy, he didn't do a very good job of hiding the security in there. Within minutes, everything just showed up on my monitor in 4k, crystal clear – perfecto! And I have to say, I got a pre-tty nice show," replied the man, winking. "You're not bad at all, you know. Well … at least you know how to locate Luciel's 'on' button."

"WHAT?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Their privacy had been well and truly invaded by an external agency.

The man placed a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. "Shh. Keep your voice down. Remember, this is a private conversation, just between you and me."

Eun-ji mumbled something, but her voice became muffled by the soft fabric of his glove, so it was impossible to make it out any of the words.

Wrapping his other arm around her, the man traced his fingers across the small of her back and drew her in towards him as though he was about to dance with her. Eun-ji recoiled a little in disgust as their bodies made contact, but she could not free herself from his grasp.

"I keep tabs on that boy's every move since his mind is such a valuable asset to the agency. We protect him from unnecessary emotional contact with others. After all, those kinds of unnecessary romantic feelings only get in the way of his productivity."

 _He's too close to me … I don't like this._

She could sense the perverse smile that lingered behind that mask. "I'm the piece of shit hacking genius who controls Luciel's life. You will call me Mr. P. That's what I go by these days. But don't ever mess with me, or there will be serious consequences. I have too many connections, too many hackathon awards and too many big government contracts to let a pretty girl like you fuck things up." He brought his hands down to Eun-ji's ass and gave it a light squeeze through her skirt, which made her cringe in horror. "Say my name, Eun-ji, so you don't forget it."

Mr. P removed his hand from her mouth so she could speak. "Get your hands off me! You really are a piece of shit. Trying to take complete ownership over someone else's life is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You should just leave Saeyoung alone!"

"He actually lets you call him Saeyoung?" he mused, removing his mask. "Interesting …" A wide smirk spanned his unexpectedly young and handsome face as it became visible. I told you I was a piece of shit hacker myself, didn't I? Now, go ahead … say my name!" His tone was so domineering and cruel that Eun-ji was almost certain he would strangle her if she didn't fulfil his simple request. "Come on, I'm waiting."

Trembling, Eun-ji felt herself hesitate before she spoke, but the fear of her imminent death was stronger than her will to try and flee. "… Mr. P," she managed, feebly.

"Ooh, I like the way that just rolls off your tongue. It sounds so sexy," he teased, not actually caring about it in the slightest. "Maybe I'll make you say my name when we're enjoying ourselves in the bedroom. That way, I can cleanse your mind of Luciel and fill it with thoughts only about me. And I know you'll have no choice but to obey me when I make you cum five times harder than he did!" He was unrelenting.

 _No way, no way, no way! There's no way I'll let you use me like that!_

"Let me go!" she screamed, writhing and trying to push herself away from him. "I don't want to do anything with you. Just let me go … please, Mr. P!"

She had broken their agreement, and this made him angry. "SHUT UP! You're drawing attention to yourself!" He swept her hood back and took her face roughly in his hands. "Just try to relax and enjoy this …" And with that, he engaged her in a full-on kiss. Eun-ji's eyes widened with fear as their lips met and he expertly forced his tongue inside her mouth, caressing hers so passionately it was gruelling. That was the last thing she had expected him to do. Bitter tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. She tried her best to push him away again, but he had her captivated, stunned.

 _This isn't what I want … but I can't move. His kiss is melting me inside. No, I have to be stronger than this. I can't give in to this temporary feeling. He's scum. I know he is!_

Suddenly, Mr. P broke the kiss and glared deeply and intently into her eyes. She felt hypnotised by the swirling darkness that seemed to emanate from within them. Then, he whispered something into her ear that made her skin crawl. "Goodnight. Be a good girl for me and just accept my little gift to you. But probably … it's not what you think." He laughed. "Sex would only be fun if you were conscious, after all." It was as though his words were meant only for his own amusement.

He stabbed Eun-ji's thigh with something sharp. The pain ripped through her body like a bullet. It was unbearable but she couldn't raise her voice to call for help. Both legs started to go numb and she could barely stand up. Feeling dizzy, her vision grew hazy and the sounds around her become increasingly incoherent. He'd injected her with a tranquilliser and it was absorbing into her bloodstream all too quickly.

Mr. P released her from his grip and she fell straight to the ground. Fortunately, the hoodie she was wearing was so thick that it helped to cushion the blow somewhat. Her limbs softened like jelly, buckling under the sedative effect of the drug. It felt as though she would just sink into the ground and become a part of the scenery.

Eun-ji's throat felt coarse and dry as she attempted to speak. "Sae … young." She knew she couldn't expect him to come to her rescue now. Maybe his so-called 'God Seven' persona wasn't so almighty after all. It wasn't like he had mystical superpowers; he was just a regular guy with enviable hacking skills. But she wanted him to treasure her and keep her safe. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and tell her a funny joke that would easily make all the pain disappear. But that wasn't going to happen. Not now, and maybe not ever.

 _Saeyoung … Saeyoung …_

 _Help me._

 _Please._

 _I love you._

As the blurry image of Mr. P's unforgiving, scathing expression burnt itself into her memory, she gave into the inevitable, let herself drown in the vertigo that consumed her and passed out cold.


	21. Signal Block

Hi everyone. So, Seven is back after a little hiatus in the story. Hope you're enjoying and will try to update as quickly as possible to reach the conclusion. Getting there, chapter by chapter.

 **Ciphertext: Chapter 21 – Signal Block**

It was already 2pm and Luciel had been practically slaving away at his PC since he'd stepped out of the shower – or at least that's how it felt. He'd been so focused on work that he'd unintentionally skipped lunch and his stomach was grumbling like crazy. Despite his high levels of intellectual concentration, the emotional part of his mind had grown so distracted by worrying about where Eun-ji had run off to that he felt obligated to mask it with that same haunting track he usually reverted to; _The Sound of Silence_

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you

But my words like silent raindrops fell

And echoed in the wells of silence

Eyeing some new information that had shown up in his browser, he furiously transferred it all into an Excel file, ensuring that all the co-ordinates and directions were crystal clear for the client. But his thoughts were wandering further and further away from where he needed them to be and they became increasingly aimless and random. His blood sugar was getting low and he needed to have a break, no matter how brief.

Flipping his headphones off, he walked into the bedroom and swiped his phone from the bedside table and switched it on. As soon as he did, he noticed his call log and balked. There were twenty-two missed calls from Zen.

"What the-? Zen never calls me … but THIS IS INSANE!"

There were no voicemail messages to catch up on. He figured that Zen had probably grown tired of hearing Luciel's annoying recording each time and in the end just gave up. But just as he was about to hit the 'call' button to see what the fuss was about, Zen's own call came through, which caused Luciel to jump backwards a little in shock.

He answered immediately. "Hey Zen …"

"Dude! Where the fuck have you been? I've been trying to reach you for the past few hours. Don't you ever have your phone with you?" Zen sounded furious and hurried.

"I had a lot of work on …" he said, bluntly.

Zen was flustered, like he was walking somewhere fast. Traffic noises could be heard in the background. "Oh really? 'work' is it? That's the excuse you're going to use!"

"Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about. Zen, just calm down and tell me what this is all about. What's up with all the calls? Did you miss hearing my voice that much?" he joked.

"SEVEN! This is no time to mess around! Did she get back to the apartment safely this morning?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't 'hmm' me! Did Eun-ji get back okay?"

Luciel's pupils dilated and he quickly went pale. "D-did you just say … Eun-ji?"

There was a moment of silence while Zen chose his words. "She came to visit me, since she was angry with you."

"WHAT? _That's_ where she went?" Luciel felt the anger and jealousy rising up inside him. It didn't feel good. Not at all. "You bastard! How could you lure her into your honey trap when she's feeling susceptible?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa … no, hang on just a minute Seven! Don't blame this all on me!"

"Why not!? You obviously took advantage of the situation. You thought it would be a fantastic idea since it's been so long since you had a girlfriend, right? And you're such a smooth talker, it would be so easy to just click your fingers and she'd come running over to you like a puppy."

"No! That's not how things happened, okay? Just let me explain!"

"So things did happen then? What is there left to explain Zen? You got it on with her and that's that. Just spare me the details because I really don't want to know!"

"Seven … I know you're angry with me, but it was actually her idea."

"No. I don't believe you. It couldn't have been Eun-ji's idea. Why would she even do that?"

"I think you were too harsh on her dude … she was a mess, and she risked revealing her identity just to leave the apartment talk to someone else about things."

"I told her not to leave the apartment under any circumstances by herself."

"But can you blame her, after what you did?"

"I know I said some things …" Try as he might, Luciel just couldn't shake the mental image of the two of them squirming around naked together in Zen's bed while he spoon-fed her his cheesy pillow talk. "But being the womanising 'wolf' you are, the interaction didn't just stop at talking, did it?"

Hearing that Luciel thought of him only as a shallow vessel of a man pained him a little. "Did I _say_ that we had sex? I understand that you're only trying to rationalise the situation, but … we didn't have sex …" He paused. That was a bit of a lie. "… Well, not exactly anyway."

"NOT _EXACTLY_?" fumed Luciel, slamming his hand down onto the table. "But there was still something going on between you two?" He sighed in frustration. "I don't need to hear your excuses, and forget what I just said. I do want the details. All of them. Right now!"

Zen stopped in his tracks and from the other end of the line Luciel could hear him turning the key in a door lock. "I'm back at home now, so I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Go on then, I don't have long before I need to continue with my work again," said Luciel, impatiently.

"She called me and asked whether she could come over to my place to talk. Her heart seemed like it was really breaking and I couldn't just abandon her. It's true that I had some feelings for her, which I now understand can never grow further. So I agreed to console her, and really, truly, honestly … I never intended for things to spin out of control but …"

He was interrupted by Luciel's speculation. "But you just couldn't control the beast in your pants, could you? You just couldn't keep your dirty hands off her for five seconds!"

"It was difficult not to get turned on when she was teasing me so mercilessly with those eyes, and grinding her knee into me, and pressing me up against the oven, and-" He felt a bit hot just thinking about the first half of their sex game, but as he remembered the beatings that followed, his body temperature soon dropped again.

"And what?" Luciel's curiosity was getting the better of him now. "Are you saying … she seduced _you_?"

"Yeah … that's pretty much what happened dude." He sighed, confident that their friendship was really feeling the pressure at that moment. "But she got ahead of herself and tried to tie me up. Then, she beat me with a kitchen whisk. It really hurt."

Luciel couldn't believe his ears. "She beat you … with kitchen utensils? Are you fucking kidding me?" He felt a pang of remorse for what had happened to Zen, but he was so sure Eun-ji wasn't capable of abuse like that. "Why did she even want to do that?"

"She seemed to think it would be fun to try a little … uh … BDSM role play. Unfortunately, it went horribly wrong and she just ended up breaking down in tears. I was really concerned about her behaviour."

Luciel's heart felt like it had stopped. "S-she's into _that_ kind of thing? I never would have guessed. Did she really hurt you? Can you honestly tell me you didn't enjoy any of it?"

His question seemed a little strange. "Well … of course I had high hopes during the first five minutes. She was really hot and I felt myself getting lost that beautiful glare she kept throwing me. Let's put it this way, she was waking up that beast inside me for sure. I didn't even know what was going on. But then, when it happened … the beating was so gruelling that I was even in tears myself. It was too harsh to be enjoyable and it left marks all over my body."

"Jesus!" Luciel covered his mouth in horror. "I-I can't believe she would even consider doing this to someone. What the hell was going through her mind? I don't get it."

"That's the thing, there's no way she's really into kinky stuff like that. I could just sense it. I mean, it doesn't make sense seeing as … you were her first… you know, so-"

Remembering something, Luciel raised his voice suddenly. "Wait! Earlier, when we started this conversation you mentioned something about her getting back to the apartment safely?"

"Yeah, but I guess it doesn't matter now, she's back there now, right?"

Luciel looked at the floor, his pulse quickening with fear. "No, she isn't back yet."

Zen's mind reeled. "WHAT? She left my place at 10am. That was over four hours ago!"

"Shit!" cursed Luciel, biting his finger. "Where the fuck did she disappear to?" He let out a deep, chesty sigh. "Listen Zen … I'm sorry that I doubted your intentions with Eun-ji. Her safety is more important to me right now, no matter what she did."

"She's just confused about her feelings, but yeah – do what you can to find her. I'm sorry I don't think I can be of any help," said Zen, regretfully.

"Don't worry. I know someone I can ask. I've gotta go. Talk later!"

"Ok, bye. Good luck!" said Zen, trying his best to put on an encouraging voice.

"Yeah … " Luciel seemed uncertain about his own capabilities. "Bye."

He hung up and then scrolled through the phone book to find Vanderwood's number. He hit the 'call' button and waited for him to answer. Finally, after about a minute, the agent picked up.

"Luciel?" came the voice.

"Vanderwood. Where the hell is Eun-ji? I told you to keep an eye on her!"

"I have no idea. I've tried tracking her phone signal but it's firewalled."

"How is it firewalled? You can track anyone's phone signal; I've seen you do it!"

"Not this time. Nothing I do works to unblock it and since she doesn't have a GPS tracker on herself, it's a real task to locate her. The other guys haven't had any luck either. In any case, I can't spend too long on it. Mr. P will go ballistic if he finds out I'm helping you with something like this, especially since we're keeping it under wraps!"

"Keep looking, Vanderwood! I don't care if Mr. P knows about it or not. I just want her back in this apartment, safe and unharmed. Can you do that much for me?"

Vanderwood was silent for a moment. "You do understand that not being able to access the firewall can mean only one thing … right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mr. P is the only hacker who knows how to permanently block a signal from other intrusive algorithms. No-one can hack past his obstacles. Not me, not you, or anyone else in the organisation."

"Damn! So … do you think he has Eun-ji?"

"I can't be certain, but this whole thing reeks of his unrivalled hacking skills. Watch your back Luciel. Getting involved further with that girl could lead you into uncharted territory," warned Vanderwood, knowing full well what Mr. P was capable of. "And you know what uncharted territory I'm talking about."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks for the warning but I have to handle this one myself after all. If it is Mr. P I'm sure I will receive a message from him soon. It has to be me he wants to antagonise, to get revenge on. Eun-ji is just the bait here." He paused. "I appreciate your effort for my sake, Vanderwood. Really. But please just keep trying to break the signal block and keep me posted. I'll leave my phone switched on while I work."

Vanderwood felt like he didn't have much choice. He'd already started, so leaving things unfinished would be a grave mistake, especially where Mr. P was concerned. "Sure. But just … don't make any serious errors because you're worried about her, okay?"

"Her life depends on my sanity. There is no room for error."


	22. Game

**Ciphertext - Chapter 22: Game**

Luciel rifled through the kitchen cupboards for something quick to eat and managed to throw together a sandwich using the ingredients he found. It was a rather uncommon combination of peanut butter, some leftover kimchi and a few slices of cucumber, but it would do. He winced as he shoved the thing into his mouth, munching on the starchy texture as quickly as humanly possible. Even if he ended up with indigestion after this, he didn't especially care. He just needed sustenance to get his brain power back up to normal levels. He guzzled an entire can of Dr. Pepper in three seconds to wash it down, belching a little in a display of satisfaction.

The assignment couldn't wait much longer but since he was so busy with it, he just prayed to God that Vanderwood would be able to break through the block on the signal. Revealing Eun-ji's location and tracking her movements was the most crucial thing he could do. The quicker, the better. Luciel took another look at the data he'd finished entering into the spreadsheet earlier. His eyes followed the lines of letters and numbers. Something was strange. Usually, it would just be a question of relaying need-to-know information in no particular order, but this time it was different. Everything seemed too tidy and polished and that was without him having to filter anything.

"This data is actually … ", he re-positioned his glasses and squinted at the screen a little more, "… some kind of message?"

Without even hesitating, Luciel took a notepad and pen from the drawer and started to scribble down countless combinations of words and phrases from the spreadsheet. This would help him to identify the meaning of the information in front of him. He kept scribbling, searching, contemplating for the next hour until he had filled up the entire notebook on the exercise. The muscles in his head felt like they might snap if he had to focus any longer on it. Finally, he noticed a crystal clear correlation and his chest grew heavy as he came to a stark realisation. Tapping the tip of his pen onto a blank sheet of paper momentarily, he wrote out the message in clear roman letters. The message was in English.

* * *

COME AND PLAY THE GAME SAEYOUNG CHOI. I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU.

YOURS FAITHFULLY– MR.P

* * *

Except his name, the rest of these foreign words were incomprehensible to someone who only ever spoke Korean, so he used Rika's electronic dictionary to determine the meaning.

"Mr. P … you really are the one who is responsible for this." He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the desk. "What kind of grudge do you have against me? What did I ever do to you?" He turned to face the direction where camera was hidden, understanding that Mr. P must have hacked the security system to have known about Eun-ji. "SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS! GIVE HER BACK!" he yelled, staring directly into the lens. There would be no audio, but he was sure Mr. P was an expert lip reader, so it didn't matter. The expression on Luciel's face should have been enough of a hint as to the emotion behind it.

Suddenly, the RFA app window popped up on Luciel's monitor. He tried to click on the 'x' in the corner to close it, but it wouldn't disappear. It was stuck open.

"What the-?"

He logged into the chatroom to see who else was online.

[A NEW CHATROOM HAS OPENED]

707 HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **707:** Hey … guys? Anyone here?

 **Yoosung:** OMG SEVEN! You've been so quiet recently. How's everything going with Emily? I hope you're behaving, considering what Zen said ¬_¬

 **707:** Yoosung … No, actually … I'm sorry to break it you, but … things aren't alright this end.

 **Yoosung:** Huh? _ Why?

 **707:** I have a lot of things to explain, but to cut a long story short she's been captured by the hacker.

 **Yoosung:** WHAT? Captured!? But you're living under the same roof right now. How could this happen?

 **707:** We had an argument …

 **Yoosung:** About what?

 **707:** You don't need to know that. We just had an argument.

 **Yoosung:** Oh … okay T_T

 **707:** She left the apartment whilst I was showering, although I told her not to.

 **Yoosung:** And?

 **707:** …

 **Yoosung:** The silence is making me feel uncomfortable …

 **707:** Well, she went over to Zen's place to talk with him about things.

 **Yoosung:** ZEN'S HOUSE!?

 **707:** Yeah, not long after she left there she was kidnapped by the hacker …

 **Yoosung:** Whoa, hang on! Why did she have to go and meet Zen face-to-face?

 **707:** *sigh* It's a long story, like I said. I already spoke to Zen and we're cool about everything now.

 **Yoosung:** 'Cool about' what exactly? Surely … you don't mean … something happened with Emily? And by 'something' I mean SOMETHING! _ WHAT THE HELL DID I MISS? I've been gaming most of the time and I had no idea that this was even going on!

ZEN HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** ZEN! Dude, what happened with Emily!? Tell me!

 **Zen:** Hey Yoosung. Calm down, Seven's doing his best to search for her.

 **Yoosung:** I know, I know but before that! What did you guys do?

 **Zen:** Us? Well … I mean Seven got in there first, not me!

 **Yoosung:** Got … in there … first?

 **707:** ZEN! What are you blurting out here? It's not like that's all I was after!

 **Zen:** Hey man. Sorry, I thought you'd told him already ¬_¬

 **Yoosung:** Told me what? T_T Oh, why do I feel so left out?

 **707:** I was getting around to it!

 **Yoosung:** Well, I have to know now! Spill, spill!

 **707:** Emily … no, Eun-ji and I kind of … well, how do I put this? We … had sex last night.

 **Yoosung:** …

 **Zen:** … Yoosung?

 **Yoosung:** …

 **707:** Yoosung, say something!

 **Yoosung:** You had SEX!? And ... her name's Eun-ji!?

 **Zen:** It sounds like he's more shocked about the fact that you fucked someone, rather than who it was with …

 **707:** _You're_ saying that Yoosung? ¬_¬ But then I knew I couldn't be with her because of my job, so I treated her feelings like trash the next morning. That's why she got so pissed at me and left to talk with Zen.

 **Yoosung:** And she thought Zen would just talk with her nicely … but that didn't happen, did it?

 **Zen:** Hey! You don't just think of me as a wolf too, do you Yoosung?

 **707:** … that's not exactly what happened, but she … did go a bit bondage crazy, right Zen?

 **Yoosung:** BONDAGE? Oh … what's that? _

 **707:** Come on! Don't play the innocent card now! You know what bondage means. Jesus …

 **Yoosung:** Ya. I was really just trying hard not to imagine it. But seriously … I can't believe she's into that … ZEN! Don't tell me you suggested the idea to her?

 **Zen:** No! Of course not! Ughh … Listen guys, does any of that stuff even matter right now? The only thing we need to focus on is how to get Eun-ji back! Seven, did you manage to find anything?

 **707:** Actually, I did.

 **Yoosung:** What is it?

 **707:** The hacker and kidnapper is … my boss, Mr. P

 **Zen:** Your boss? What does he want with Eun-ji?

 **707:** Nothing. It's me he wants. She's just a pawn to lead me to him.

EMILY HAS ENTERED THE CHATROOM

 **Emily:** Speak of the devil, huh?

 **Yoosung:** Someone's hacked into her account again! Let Eun-ji go!

 **707:** Yoosung, let me handle this.

 **707:** Mr. P! I know this is you. Just tell me that wherever she is she's safe. I swear if anything happens to her I'll kill you with my own two hands. And I'm not even joking.

 **Zen:** Seven …

 **Emily:** You're really serious about the girl, aren't you? Well, this just makes our little game all the more interesting.

 **707:** How so?

 **Emily:** You know full well that while you're under my control there's no room for relationships, right? Hackers can't ever dream to be happy. We're the cockroaches of society, crawling around in the dirt for our next big reveal. Who told you to go and break the rules?

 **707:** I can't control how I feel about her.

 **Emily:** You can shut down your emotions anytime, but you've chosen a different path. It will only lead to suffering.

 **707:** Then let me suffer if it means I can be with her.

 **Yoosung:** T_T Seven … please don't sacrifice yourself for her sake. We will all miss you too much!

 **707:** Don't worry Yoosung. I have no plans to sacrifice myself in any way.

 **Emily:** But you want to save her, don't you? Doesn't that automatically mean you'll have to risk your own life to do that.

 **Zen:** Don't ask questions that have obvious answers, you damn hacker! Of course he wants to save her! Are you a fucking idiot or something?

 **Emily:** Oh? You're a little feisty dog …

 **Zen:** Grrr …

 **Emily:** Now, now. Calm down boy! You're going to have to confront me if you want to see her again. Follow my directions to Paradise and we'll continue our little game there. But hurry, time is running out.

EMILY HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

707 HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

 **Yoosung:** Huh? What's going on? They both just suddenly left!

 **Zen:** No, I think Mr. P logged them off at the same time. He wouldn't want to let us have the address.

 **Yoosung:** He wants Seven to go there alone …

 **Zen:** Yeah … I'm just guessing he's probably sent the information via some encrypted message.

 **Yoosung:** I'm so worried about Seven T_T Is he gonna be alright? Isn't there any way we can help him?

 **Zen:** I know you want to help, but I think the best thing we can do is tell the others what's going on and wait to hear from Seven.

 **Yoosung:** Yeah, you're right. I'm signing off now as I'm already super late for class. Let's check back for updates later. Hmm... I don't think I can focus right now.

 **Zen:** We will have to trust Seven. I'll come back later too. Bye for now.

 **Yoosung:** Bye ...

YOOSUNG HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM

ZEN HAS LEFT THE CHATROOM


	23. Journey

Just a little extra revelation in this chapter, although it won't be a main focus, thought I'd slip it in ;)

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 23: Journey**

Luciel shut down the PC and furrowed his brows, determined to get Eun-ji back as quickly and safely as possible. He'd inputted the co-ordinates that Mr. P had given him into maps on his smartphone. The GPS was indicating that his boss' location was in Jongno-gu, which was across the river and the other side of the city. Taking traffic congestion during rush hour into consideration, driving would be an unsuitable option, so his best bet was to temporarily trade his Porsche to ride the train. Although it was still a 45-minute journey away, he figured he could also spend the additional time coming up with a game plan to help him win against Mr. P. But that would be easier said than done.

He really knew nothing about how Mr. P was in real life. One thing he understood for sure was that his boss was a far more proficient hacker with what seemed like years of experience beyond logical comprehension. His personal life was a complete enigma, and Vanderwood could never unscramble the complex code that surrounded him either. In some small way, Mr. P's abilities had been demonstrated to him in the past, but never for anything serious. He was always just playing stupid games. A crafty boss, Mr. P had a knack for unlawfully accessing data outside the boundaries that public authorities like the police had put into place. But he would never allow himself to get caught. Nothing was too big a feat for this man. This time though, the challenge to Luciel was personal and it was time to get serious.

Luciel tapped out a quick text message to the number that Mr. P had provided.

ON MY WAY. I'LL BE 45 MINS.

JUST REMEMBER … HURT HER AND I WON'T GO EASY ON YOU.

\- 707

As he sat in his cramped seat on the subway, he pouted boyishly as he tried to make himself comfortable with so many people around. The woman who was sitting next to him decided it would be a great idea to start messaging her friend and she was laughing out loud every five seconds. It was an irritating infectious laugh and she was completely oblivious to the fact that others were staring at her. He felt stifled in this hot, sweaty trap and suddenly realised how lucky he was, in some respects, to work from home. It seemed that everyone was in a hurry after finishing work for the day and would not hesitate to push their way into the carriage just to secure themselves a seat.

Several minutes passed and Luciel was decidedly bored while he wasn't driving. Not having prepared much for the unexpected journey, he tried to focus on the task ahead by slipping on his headphones and listening to some Mozart. Staring directly in front of him, he fixed his eyes on the material of the man's jacket in front of him. It had been slung over the man's arm and he was wearing a smooth black waistcoat over a crisp white shirt. Luciel's thoughts wandered to the quality of the fabric; it was certainly a well-made pin striped suit, and it smelled fresh and clean, like it had really been taken care of. At least, it would have been cleaner if it wasn't for the faint traces of white cat h-

In a sudden flash of recognition, Luciel looked up at the man.

"J-JUMIN?"

His mouth was open wider than it should have been, and his voice too loud. He covered his mouth as he realised this. A couple of people turned to look over to see what all the fuss was about. Some of the young women in the carriage exchanged whispers about how handsome the Director of C&R was. It was true, he was a miraculously good-looking fellow.

Jumin stopped reading his book and stared down at Luciel. His stern expression of concentration softened a little upon seeing the younger red-haired man. "Luciel! What are you doing sitting there?"

"Me? What about _you_? Why are you using public transport? Don't you have a personal chauffer to drive you around?"

"Hmm. Why are you on public transport?"

"I asked you first …"

Jumin sighed. "Truthfully, I can't stand having Driver Kim go through the hassle of making his way through all the traffic. So during rush hour, I always take the subway home instead."

"I see … so you do really care about the welfare of your staff after all." It was a nice thought.

"No. I just don't want to waste my money paying them for a journey," Jumin responded, in all seriousness.

Luciel was visibly confused. "Since when do you care about wasting money?"

"It was a joke. See, even I can make jokes sometimes." Jumin smiled, proud of his simple achievement.

"Oh …" Luciel laughed out of politeness, but it wasn't really all that funny. "… hilarious."

"So, you didn't tell me where you're going?" Then, he realised that something seemed off. "By the way, where's Emily? Wasn't she supposed to be with you?"

"Actually … her name is Eun-ji and … she's been kidnapped by my boss."

Jumin's face went pale. " _What did you just say?_ "

"Yeah … she's been kidnapped. They're at a hidden location in Jongno-gu."

"So I did hear it correctly. And you're taking a train to go and rescue her? I must admit, it is a bit long-winded! Why didn't you just drive there?"

"What choice do I have? You said it yourself. The traffic is too bad to try and get through at this time of day. Even if I was in my Porsche I wouldn't be able to make it there any quicker."

Jumin pondered the situation for a few seconds in silence. "Is she going to be alright? Will you allow me to send some of my bodyguards down there to protect her?"

"No. Thanks Jumin. I appreciate your offer, but I just … need to face Mr. P once and for all … alone. He won't be satisfied until he gets what he wants, but … I don't know what he wants yet. This is why it's so difficult to know how to prepare for our meeting. There usually needs to be a problem that needs solving, but he won't give anything away until I get there. Even when I do arrive, who knows what's going to happen?"

"If it's any help, I always prepare for meetings by psychoanalysing the client. They need to be well and truly scrutinised before you can understand how to make a deal with them. Then, you try to find the perfect harmonious balance that is most suitable for both parties." Jumin straightened his tie, looking happy to dish out advice at a time like this.

"That kind of approach might work in business Jumin, but trust me, this is an entirely different situation and I don't have much previous experience with this guy. It all comes through Vanderwood so I have no direct contact with Mr. P."

Jumin scowled. "Vanderwood? You mean your house maid?"

 _Oh yeah …. I did say that, didn't I?_

"Uh … no. I was just trying to have fun covering up his real identity. Plus, I would love a maid. But that's not the point. Vanderwood is actually a secret agent who works for Mr. P. Basically, he makes sure I do all the work the agency asks for."

"Oh … I should let Zen know. I think he might want to go on a date with her."

"Jumin, the only person who didn't understand the joke was you. Zen will be fine. He wouldn't date a guy anyway."

"But I would."

Luciel blinked a few times to try and make sense of what he was hearing. "What did you say? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that …" It was all crystal clear, but he just wanted to be sure.

Jumin coughed and muttered something under his breath, turning his eyes away from Luciel. His face was flushed in a light red and Luciel knew something was definitely different about his behaviour.

"Jumin … you can talk to me. I know I joke around a lot, but if there's something on your mind just say it." Luciel smiled at the businessman standing before him.

"I-it's too shameful …" he said, a look of emotional pain shooting across his face. "I don't know who will accept the truth."

"Why wouldn't people accept you? You are well-educated and well-respected. Isn't that all that matters?"

"But … I'm gay, Luciel." He paused. "I like men."

"That's what I thought you meant. Well, I have to say I'm not really surprised about it." This piqued Luciel's innate sense of curiosity. "So, is there a special someone in your life or are you ... just experimenting?"

Jumin coughed again. "It's actually … it's ... Driver Kim."

Luciel couldn't help but chuckle at his revelation. "Ooh … so you're sleeping with your personal chauffer?" A few curious women started whispering amongst themselves again.

Jumin blushed. "Please keep your voice down Luciel! This is private information," he warned. "We … haven't got that far yet."

"Yet?" echoed Luciel. "But you're obviously planning to! Let me help you prepare a nice romantic evening together – and by 'help', obviously I mean taking care of Elly for you!"

It looked like Jumin was going to be sick. "No, thank you. That won't be necessary. Elizabeth the 3rd will be joining us."

Luciel's mind went into overdrive. "Oh, how mean! But wait, does that mean ... you're having a threesome with your cat!?"

Jumin felt like giving up on their conversation. "If you're not going to be serious, then don't worry about it."

Luciel felt a little bit guilty. "Hey, sorry … I got carried away. You were helping me to take my mind off what I'm about to deal with. I guess I just needed some fuel, you know. My brain needs exercising and I gotta admit, it is pre-tty hilarious imagining you, Driver Kim and Elly all together in your bedroom-"

Jumin squished Luciel's head lightly into the plastic division that separated the seating area from the doors, messing up his hair. " _DO. NOT. IMAGINE. ANYTHING_ ". His fiery eyes looked as though they would burn holes through anything in their path.

Luciel couldn't taunt him anymore. "O-ok. You got me. I'll drop it now." He re-styled his hair with his fingers.

"This is my stop," declared Jumin, slipping on his suit jacket once again. "Luciel …"

"Hmm?"

"Not a word of our conversation goes beyond this carriage, do you understand?"

"Of course. After all, I enjoy keeping secrets," he confirmed, putting a finger to his lips and winking.

"Thank you." Jumin put a hand onto Luciel's shoulder. "I trust that you will do what's best for her."

And with that, the Chairman-to-be took his leave, sliding gracefully through the automatic doors and onto the platform, disappearing into the crowd.

Luciel's heart felt still and silent as he watched a new blur of people entering the train. His mind raced with thoughts about his mission. He didn't consider himself to be a hero. Maybe an antihero. But he was only mentally strong. That had to be enough to propel him forward and bring Eun-ji back alive. He studied the lines on the palms of his hands, looking at where each one intersected. They were all a mess, just like his life.

 _Please trust that I will do what's best you Eun-ji, even if I don't know what that is._

 _Wait for me._

 _I'm coming._


	24. Corporate Hell

**Ciphertext – Chapter 24: Corporate Hell**

Luciel stood outside the skyscraper that Mr. P had directed him to, smack bang in the middle of bustling Jongno-gu. It was a swanky 20-floor office tower that looked as though it would be full to the brim with high-flying execs. This was certainly his idea of an elite corporate hell, so much so that he wondered whether Jumin should have accompanied him after all. But as much as everyone in the RFA was concerned for her welfare, this was his own personal challenge. He needed to see with his own eyes that Eun-ji was unharmed and use whatever means necessary to get her back.

As he entered the foyer through the revolving doors, he noted the pristine marble floor and the strange artistic centrepiece of two identical angels embracing that greeted him. The décor seemed somewhat out of place, like it didn't really belong in such a new building. Then again, perhaps these objects just didn't appeal to Luciel's tastes. He stood there for a moment, gazing up at the religious symbols. Their eyes were sinister, and yet the pure white colour of the stone they were carved in suggested serenity. Without really thinking about it, Luciel clasped his cross pendant in one hand and hoped, silently, that everything was going to be okay. Maybe he would wake up from this dream soon and his life would jump back a few days so he could do that semi-heroic time-travel rescue thing. But this was reality, and right now he needed to fight his corner 707-style.

The woman behind the desk noticed him standing there, admiring the twin angels and walked over. Luciel was lost in a trance, but saw her approaching from beneath the rim of his glasses. He turned to face her and put his hands down by his sides, snapping out of his momentary daze.

"Excuse me. Is everything alright?" said the woman, smiling sweetly.

"Uh … yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Thank you. Just … looking at this statue. It's … mesmerising."

"Yes. It's actually an artefact from a museum in Italy. We're so lucky to have it on display in our office building in South Korea. Isn't it just lovely?"

"Hmm …" Luciel said, pondering the small details of the figures once more. "Italy, huh?"

"May I ask if you are here to meet with someone?" she asked, looking over his attire suspiciously.

Luciel clocked her sudden concern and zipped up his hoodie, as though it would somehow smarten him up a little. "Ah, yeah. Actually … I'm here to see Mr. P"

The woman led him over to the reception desk. She looked confused as she searched through the names of the building's company workers. "Alright. I'm not certain about this. Which firm does he work for?"

"I uh … actually have no idea. He just invited me here." Of course, all the important information was missing, which was extremely unhelpful.

"Well, 'Mr. P' … now, really, that could be anybody. Pae, Pak, Park. Don't you have any more details?"

Suddenly his smartphone started to vibrate in his jacket pocket. "Oh, excuse me. I'm getting a call."

"It's okay. Just let me know when you are ready. Help yourself to some water if you're thirsty," she said, motioning to the water cooler by the desk.

As he suspected, the call was coming from Mr. P, Luciel quickly moved a few paces towards the plastic cups and swiped to answer it. "Mr. P – I'm here. Now tell me how the hell I'm supposed to find you!" his tone was calm, yet demanding. He positioned the phone between his ear and shoulder whilst he poured himself a drink.

"Saeyoung Choi. Long time no speak. How are things going?" came Mr. P's voice from the other end. It sounded too high-pitched to be the man's real voice, so Luciel guessed it had been altered to further obscure his identity.

 _Why the extra precaution?_

Luciel took a hard gulp of the crystal clear water and threw the cup into the bin. "Long time no speak?" he repeated. "When have we ever spoken to each other? You insist on holding remote meetings with Vanderwood only, and even that's via an encrypted chatroom which changes its algorithm every 2 hours."

"Oh? Do you feel left out? Well, I don't have any reason to get you involved in all the boring, legal stuff, so I just let you get on with your job."

Luciel raised his voice a little. "I don't care if you're my boss right now or what you involve me in when it comes to work. Just cut the small talk and just tell me where the fuck she is!" He really didn't have time for niceties when Eun-ji was in danger.

The woman behind the reception desk overheard him and looked up briefly. As their eyes met, Luciel quickly turned to face the other way, heading back over to the angel statue. Then, he cupped a hand over the microphone so he didn't have to talk so loudly.

Mr. P let out an aggravated sigh. "Ughh. You came all this way, so you must really be into this chick, huh? I have to say that whenever I hear about hackers getting into this 'love' business, it sickens me, but I guess you don't leave me much choice." He paused for a few seconds. "Stay where you are. I'll come down and get you."

"Mr. P!" Luciel tried, but the call had already come to an abrupt end and the line was dead.

 _Damn! Now what am I meant to do?_

He put his phone away and just clenched his fists in frustration, hitting them against the foot of one of the angels. Suddenly, the ground began to shake around him. He huddled up to the statue and grabbed onto a piece of stone that was jutting out from the base.

 _Earthquake!?_

As he looked around the building, he noticed that nobody else seemed to be paying attention to what was going on. People's legs were effortlessly gliding across that marble floor, as they transported their cases and coffees, chatting with co-workers and clients. None of this was affecting them at all.

 _Can't they feel what's going on here? Don't they have any sense of personal safety?_

Then, the floor gave way and the once rock solid marble split and cracked beneath Luciel's feet. He began to descend along with the two angels into what felt like a deep, dark underground hell chamber. His fiery imagination had always been so full of conspiracy theories, space adventures and hacking secrets, but this was altogether too surreal to comprehend. This time, he was being taken beyond his own mental boundaries and into the unknown. His eyes began to cloud over and his mind went blank.

 _Shit … I can barely concentrate on anything right now._

 _Eun-ji …_

Just like the marble, the lenses of Luciel's glasses gradually started to splinter with the sudden drop in pressure. He managed, awkwardly, to slip them off and store them securely in his pocket. The last thing he needed at that moment was for the small shards of glass to destroy his precious eyesight. Falling to his knees, he tried to maintain his grip on the base as best he could. He was only sinking further and further into what seemed like the never-ending abyss below. The walls twisted and meandered into dark swirling pools of psychedelic confusion. His head throbbed and ached. He just wanted this to all to come to an end.

Then, as swiftly as it had happened, some familiar objects from the foyer slowly came back into focus. Luciel felt a few light beads of sweat trickle down his face as he realised just how hot his whole body had become. He panted to try and catch his breath and looked up at the graceful statue that was towering over him; protective yet disconcerting. Although everything was slightly blurry without his glasses on, every part of the thing was still intact; nothing broken, nothing cracked. He remained sitting for a while, his head resting in his hands, trying to make sense of the strange experience that had just overwhelmed him. Then, pushing himself up from the floor, he tried to lean against the base and regain his usual sense of balance.

A dark and fuzzy figure neared Luciel, and his throat felt coarse and dry. He took an educated guess as to who the man was.

"M-Mr. P ..."

"Yes. It's really me. Come on, Saeyoung. Let's play a little game, shall we?" He extended his hand outwards. "Join me in Paradise."

 _His voice sounds … different_

"Take me … to her …" Luciel managed, half of his words disappearing into thin air. He tried to take the man's hand. "I want … to see her … right now."

But his body was so weak that he could barely stand and each time he spoke, it only caused his head to pulsate harder. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees once again, shaking dreadfully.

 _I can't give up now, I just can't. But my body … feels so heavy …_

Mr. P took a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lit it, smirking as he held it in his mouth. "That's it, Saeyoung. You've got the right idea. Get down on your knees and pray to God, because you're not going to last much longer in this place."


	25. Friendship

**Ciphertext – Chapter 25: Friendship**

Luciel awoke in a completely different location. His head was still dizzy and heavy and as his gaze panned across the room, every object seemed to blur into the next. A sweeping blue haze emanated from several points all around him. Screens, lots of screens. Even without his usual vision, there was no mistaking that exact colour of light. He patted his pockets to try and dig out his glasses, at least that might help a little.

But something felt strange.

It took him a few seconds before he realised that he wasn't even wearing his jacket, only a long-sleeved top and …

… _my boxer shorts?_

This didn't look good. He panicked as he considered what might have happened to him. The last thing he remembered was trying to grab onto to Mr. P, begging to be taken to Eun-ji, before falling to his knees and passing out on that cold, hard surface.

And now he was here, wherever that was.

Feeling around on the floor, Luciel noticed that his jacket was actually scrunched up just beside him. He searched for those glasses, which were still cracked from the earlier impact, and slipped them back onto his face. It seemed amazing that the glass hadn't shown any signs of falling through, and he was grateful for that. As he took another long glance at where the blinding blue light was coming from, he saw several figures slouching in their seats, typing adamantly, their eyes fixated on what was in front of them.

He adjusted his glasses downwards slightly so he could see more clearly over the crack. "What … is this place?" he muttered to himself, disconcerted by the overbearing atmosphere.

"Oh. You're finally awake, my little Defender of Justice?" came Mr. P's now unmistakable voice. He came over and kneeled down in front of where Luciel had propped himself up against the wall.

Frowning, Luciel cut straight to the chase. "What the hell am I doing here … and where is Eun-ji?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" teased Mr. P, the blue light emphasising the unnerving leer that was spanning his face.

The man's lack of detail angered Luciel. "Listen, boss. I didn't come here to joke around. I'm serious. I want her back with me alive or you will feel my pain!"

"Oh, how about that? What a hero, Agent 707! You finally emerged from behind your screen and now you're trying to prove how much that little slut means to you, even after she attempted to seduce your friend Zen? Ha! Don't make me laugh. Heroism, romance – it's all so pathetic."

Now, the temperature gauge was reaching boiling point. "You even know that much about what happened? In that case, I think you're the pathetic one, trying to ruin me by targeting her. If it's me you want, then challenge me directly but don't involve innocent people in your twisted games!"

"You're a dangerous man for women to be around, so just face up to your responsibilities and don't go around breaking their hearts," he scoffed, mockingly. "And by that I mean that you should just give up before you've even started."

"And have you ever tried …" Luciel began, " … to love someone?"

"That's such a stupid question. You read my handbook when you first started working for me, didn't you?"

Luciel knew exactly which book he was referring to. It was a kind of hacking bible published by the man himself. "Mr. P's Hackers Guide to Healthy Lifestyles? The one that tells you to suppress all your innermost desires and devote yourself entirely to the good cause of ethical hacking? Sexual feelings only move the goal posts further and further away. You know what?"

"What?"

"That's all just bullshit! I can be a great hacker and still be in a relationship. Those two things aren't even correlated. It's just that I never tried to pursue anyone until now."

"Hmm? But isn't 'love' what got _you_ into this predicament?"

"I hate that you watched me prancing around the apartment naked. I hate that you saw Eun-ji naked. I hate that you didn't turn off the camera … What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Oh-ho-ho. Well, hang on a minute. Let's rewind the CCTV shall we? What about your spy games?"

"I already repented for that. I'm only a man … don't you see that? I can't be the only person in the world with inappropriate thoughts. Anyway, since I was interested in her from the beginning, before any of the others knew about her, my feelings were always going to be stronger." Luciel felt himself grow cold and his face turn pale as he checked on his lower half. "I just want to know that ... you didn't do anything to me while I was unconscious, right!?"

Hearing this, Mr. P laughed so hard he had to cover his mouth and even choked a few times as he tried to catch his breath. It was a severely forced guttural laugh. Regaining his composure. "No. You think I'd go so far as to sexually assault you? Don't flatter yourself 707." He took Luciel's chin in one hand, observing his electric red hair and quivering yellow pools. "That new look is so 'dangerous' it's certainly what you might call 'cute', but me? I'm married to oclHashcat and Wireshark."

Not knowing what to make of Mr. P's comments, Luciel balked. "I'm not interested in you either! You think Iwant _that_ kind of attention from you anyway? What planet are you living on?"

Mr. P looked at his watch as though it would tell him the answer. "Last time I checked I was living on earth, unlike you, always dreaming away in your RFA spaceship. In any case, you're the one who brought it up, not me."

"Then tell me, what am I supposed to think happened when my trousers are missing?"

Mr. P shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure your imagination will fit the pieces together. But all I'm saying is your trousers were annoying me, so I removed them." He put his hands onto Luciel's shoulders and sighed. "Look, you still don't recognise me, do you … Saeyoung?"

"I don't like being called Saeyoung," warned Luciel, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Anyway, why would I recognise you? We've never even me- ", but as he took a closer look at the man's facial features, memories suddenly came flooding back into his mind. It was all too surreal to take in and he didn't want to believe it.

 _Surely, this can't be happening …_

Mr. P stared right into Luciel's eyes. "It's me, your neighbourhood friend Tom … you know, Tom Park. It's been fifteen years since your family moved away from Busan so I'm not surprised you didn't know it was me. Feels weird to be reunited like this, doesn't it?"

Luciel felt a strange pang of nostalgia. They used to attend the same primary school and their parents had been good friends, until they lost contact following the move.

"Oh my god, T-Tom, it's really you? But it just doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't you tell me sooner? Whose arm did you pull to get the new contract in North Korea? What's with this base being inside a shiny corporate hellhole?"

Tom sighed. "You ask too many questions Saeyoung. It's not good to ask too many questions."

"But I need to know, because it involves me … and now her too. Like I said, if you want something from me, don't beat around the bush and just come out with it! She isn't like us hackers, so I want to know that she's alright."

 _Wherever you are, just hang in there okay Eun-ji?_

A menacing expression surfaced on Tom's face. "That's what I'm saying. She _isn't_ like us, and that's exactly why we have to get rid of her. If she means a lot to you, then this is your duty."

"No," asserted Luciel, "there is no 'we' in this game. I'm willing to help you with anything else, but I won't help you kill anybody, especially not her." His heart was starting to feel the strain of the idea. He couldn't lose her, not now.

"Who said anything about murdering her? You know that's not my style. Even when it comes to the work we do in North Korea, everything's under the radar."

"So you just damage them a bit and leave the limbs of their self-respect dangling by a thread?"

"That's right. Killing them would be too easy, and that's not the job of a hacker. Let the professionals take care of the dirty business while we crunch the data. Isn't it so simple when you look at things that way?"

"What … are you telling me?"

"Listen, Saeyoung. I can't tell you any more than that. It's confidential between me and the client."

"But I'm working for you, Tom. Why can't you just be more transparent about things? Sure, I know how to cover my tracks when I take cybersecurity risks, but I also like to know what I'm getting myself into. Who the hell are we even reporting to on this?"

Tom grabbed Luciel by his shirt forcefully. "We're entering another part of the contract starting from January. I can't reveal the details to you, but basically … you sign it, or you die by my own hands." He squinted and brought his face in closer so their noses touched. "Because you're the only man I'd gladly kill if you refuse to do this job. I need your mind Saeyoung. No-one else can do this."

Luciel cringed and writhed beneath the man's firm grasp. "If we go any further than what we're already doing, given the current political climate, I'm out!"

Tom looked bemused. "Is that your final answer?"

Luciel said nothing and just glared into the unforgiving eyes of the tyrant before him.

 _You can't phase me, you bastard!_

Tom let go of Luciel's shirt and threw him mercilessly to the ground. "If that's really the way you want to play it, then let me assist you." He stood over the red-haired hacker and pinned him down. Luciel tried to resist, but Tom had obviously gained more physical training that he was capable of.

"What the fuck are you doing to me Tom!?"

"That's Mr. P to you … Saeyoung. I'm already sick of hearing you call me 'Tom'. It makes me sad to think that we were ever friends in Busan."

"That was a long time ago Tom! What did I ever do to you?"

"Don't call me Tom! You put me through a lot of shit even when we weren't in the same city anymore. You won all those hacking competitions and had yourself a nice time travelling abroad on your prize money for a year, and you forgot about me! We were going to go to University together and start our own company. What happened to our dreams?"

"This is all stuff you'd planned by yourself when we were seven years old! Of course things were going to deviate from how you wanted them to be!"

"You promised!" Tom yelled, now imprisoned with rage. "Do friends go back on their promises?"

Now he was just being immature. "Things don't work like that. We were naïve when we were children – we would believe anything," tried Luciel.

"But you don't understand …" said Tom. ".. what it would have meant to me."

Luciel was confused as he tried to take in the man's last comment. Still straddling him and keeping him pinned to the floor, Tom casually ran his fingers through the hacker's soft red hair. Then, he took a suspicious-looking object from his pocket and removed a lid. The sharp blade of a knife glinted against that harsh, blue light.

 _Shit. This does NOT look good! Tom, what happened to you?_

Speaking in a markedly lower tone, Tom stated his main intention. "Starting today, you will become my finest, handcrafted tech slave. Just like these guys," he noted, pointing towards the line-up of captivated zombies hammering away on their computers. "They're so loyal, so committed to my cause.

Tom brought the blade to Luciel's throat and just held it there. Luciel took shallow breaths as he felt the point against his skin. Talking would have been useless at that moment.

"This is filled with a combination of numbing agent and sedative. It's what I used when I took Eun-ji away. It'll make you feel good, I _promise._ "

Then, as if right on cue, the door flew open and several men in black suits stormed into the room. The brainwashed hackers continued with their work as usual.

"Stop right there! We are a squad of highly-trained bodyguards sent by Mr Jumin Han on behalf of the RFA. We are equipped with cutting-edge personal weapons and have the authority of the South Korean government to use them against you Mr. Park!"

Luciel felt himself calming down upon hearing who they were. He didn't like that Jumin had got involved but in that moment he couldn't deny that he was grateful. A few seconds later and he would have become as good as braindead.

 _WAIT WHAT? … THE AUTHORITY OF THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT?_


	26. Human Rights

Apologies for the slow progress on this fanfic. Somehow I feel like when I get back to working at my regular job this week, it will force me to also do more writing. The holidays have made me too lazy and I actually hate that! Anyway, I'm grateful to have more than 30 followers now. Here's the next chapter. No idea when I'll update, but keep checking back! ;D

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 26: Human Rights**

Tom turned to face the black-suited men, who had managed close in on him. They had aimed their guns directly at his head.

"The South Korean Government?" echoed Tom. The tone of his voice suggested that he was just as surprised as Luciel, but he seemed to be more playfully amused by this revelation than he was concerned. "Don't be ridiculous! I have all of those people under my control. My knowledge is worth too much for the government to go against me," he scoffed. "I don't believe that they would dare to take me down for even a second."

One of the suits, standing to Tom's left, sought to correct his assertion. "Actually, Mr. Park, we've been given express permission to ignore any orders that you issue us. President Song has told us directly that you are not to be trusted under any circumstances," he confirmed, positioning his own gun a little more accurately. "Don't make any sudden moves."

"Oh?" Tom leered, satisfied that his reputation was threatening enough to have well and truly preceded him. He dropped the knife onto the floor and put his hands above his head. "Come and get me if you want," he said, inviting the men to seize him. Then, a knowing smirk crossed his face as he stood up slowly, hands still in the air. "But if you kill me, you'll just make more trouble for yourselves."

Another of the armed men moved closer, clicking off the safety on his gun and positioning it against Tom's head. "I hope that it won't be necessary to kill you Mr. Park. However, if you refuse to cooperate, your crimes will be publicly revealed and your entire client list will know your true motives. If that should happen, you might just as well be dead."

"That's total bullshit," noted Tom, turning to face the man who had just spoken. "Why would President Song try to break our partnership now? Since I know too much about how the South Korean government gets its intel, the best thing they can do is keep me alive."

Seeing that Tom was preoccupied with trying to negotiate with the men, Luciel took the opportunity to quickly shuffle away. Although one of the men spotted him out of the corner of his eye, he said nothing and his facial expressions did not betray him. After all, the red-haired hacker was on their side.

As his eyes panned around, Luciel tried to make out some of the strange objects in the room. He searched for clues that might be able to help him find Eun-ji. Tom wasn't going to let the cat out of the bag so easily. He fixed his gaze on the rows of dull, emotionless programmers who were still staring intently at their screens and crawled over to the main power source. Masses of cables ran separately from there to the individual monitors.

 _Maybe if I can disconnect one of these cables …_

Hearing the rustling of Luciel's clothes and feet coming from behind him, Tom spun around to see his old friend fiddling around with the mainframe.

"No! Don't touch those Saeyoung! You have no idea what they are rigged up to do!"

 _He's being deliberately vague about the details, which means I'll upset the system he created if I unplug this but …_

 _… what do I have to lose? I need to try something. Eun-ji can't be far away from here and I can't just sit back and relax right now._

"Saeyoung …" Tom tried again, "Listen to me."

Completely ignoring the plea, Luciel wrapped his hand around the thickest cable he could see and violently yanked it out, setting off a brief flurry of electrical sparks. Then, within a matter of seconds, the haunting blue light that had been flooding the room disappeared and all the screens blacked out, leaving the place noticeably darker.

All at once, the zombified hackers stopped typing and rested their hands on their laps. They stared blankly ahead at the clock on the wall, as though they had stumbled across a never-ending pit of nothingness. Perhaps they had paused to consider what little meaning their lives now held in a place like this. Or perhaps they weren't even capable of those kinds of thought processes anymore. Luciel jumped back onto his feet again, taking a moment to steady himself using one of the desks. He felt sorry for the poor slaves.

His mind felt slightly numb as he kept his eyes fixed on the row of mysterious shadowed faces. "Tell me what the hell you did to these people Tom."

Tom snarled, like a dog actively defending his territory. "What do you care about who these people are? All you need to know is that all this is the product of my longstanding hatred towards _you_ , Saeyoung. Nothing more, nothing less. I built this secret hacking empire and hired some of Seoul's most intelligent people to bring it to life – you had always just been the key part of the plan."

"What _plan_?" Luciel said, putting on a more investigative tone.

"To ensure that the North Korean government becomes subservient to us after all these years. For that, 707's intellect was all I ever needed." Tom let off a dissatisfied grunt under his breath. "Your emotions and all those new romantic ideas floating around in your head are useless to me."

Luciel put a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beat a little with anxiety as he pondered how his sense of self had been affected by Eun-ji. But he kept himself calm and took a few deep breaths to bring himself back to reality again.

"Wasteful or not, at least my feelings for her are genuine, something I'm certain you'll never begin to understand." He paused and thought about what Tom had said. "The intel we gathered for our clients … it was always meant to be for peaceful purposes. Are you telling me that was a lie, that you were just using me to fulfil your unlawful plan?"

"Peace can only be obtained if the opposition is brought to its knees, if the enemy is rendered so weak that they can no longer stand on their own two feet and have no choice but to obey the stronger nation's demands. In other words, it is necessary to take away their power to ensure our victory."

 _Is he serious!? This is taking things too far!_

"Tom, that logic is obviously flawed. You would only bring about more poverty that way. Yes, our relations with North Korea may be constantly strained, but you know it's not right to use political oppression in order to gain power. What do those programmers have to do with this? Where do they fit in?"

"They were my pawns. More specifically, final year Computer Science students from Seoul National University. I had them recruited through a unique course that would give them programming experience in the real world. They were just like you, but instead of being naturally talented, we injected their brains with a special inflammatory substance, specifically commissioned by me. I call it 'Parkacetamol'. After that, all that was left to do was keep them permanently hooked up to a highly charged power source and bingo! – man-made geniuses in the blink of an eye." He laughed, perversely.

 _They live on drugs and electricity!?_

"How the hell did they even stop to eat?"

"That's the beauty of this stuff. People get addicted to it and as long as there's an electric charge, the energy just keeps flowing through them. It keeps them alive. There's never a need for extra sustenance with Parkacetamol."

Luciel felt sick. "Tom … when did you become so cruel? I don't understand how any human being could be stupid enough to come up with this crap and call it a solution to a problem? These people have lives. What gives you the right to destroy them?"

"Heh. You're calling me an idiot for creating a really efficient productivity drug? This is by far the best thing I've ever patented in my entire life. It wasn't a question of inflicting cruelty, Saeyoung; this was throwing young people like us a safety net, something that isn't currently offered to them as part of their higher education."

 _He got a patent for it?_

Tom looked over at the blank-faced hackers. "The programme I put together would have set them up for the rest of their careers … but that power cable was their lifeblood and you've just murdered each and every one of these guys. I had them so well trained too … such a wasted effort."

Luciel bit his lip as he quivered with anger. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me! How was I supposed to know that pulling out the cable would lead to this?" He clenched his fists by his sides, visibly frustrated by Tom's demeanour. "Anyway, I doubt they wanted to live their lives as your slaves for much longer. Maybe I've just done them a favour, but of course I wish you'd never recruited them in the first place."

"What makes us so different, Saeyoung?"

 _Is he asking me a genuine question, or is this supposed to be rhetorical?_

"You know, right now I really couldn't care less about analysing our differences. Whatever they are, there's only one reason I came here today. Quit trying to win back my friendship and tell me where the hell you're keeping Eun-ji. I won't leave until I get her back by my side. You know that."

Tom grinned, pleased that Luciel had brought up the main topic of interest. "Oh, you wanted to see her? You should have said something sooner," he teased.

The suited men kept their weapons aimed firmly at Tom's body as he slowly moved over towards the wall, approaching a large black lever.

"Explain what you are about to do," said one of the men, obviously concerned that it could activate an inescapable trap.

Giving a small laugh, Tom added. "Where's the fun in that? Rather than simply giving the game away, isn't the suspense more … thrilling?"

"If you don't tell us what you have planned, you leave us very little choice Mr. Park!" another of the man warned.

"Oh, you mean you're all really going to man up and kill me?" Tom acted as though he were frightened by the prospect momentarily, but then regained his usual cool composure. "If that were true, one of you would have shot me the second you barged in here."

"Tom …" It was Luciel's turn to interject now. "You're stalling. I just want to see her with my own eyes. But I swear … if you've done _anything_ to hurt her, there's no-one on this earth who is going to hate you more than me."

"Fine, I surrender!" he said, mockingly. "I _promise_ I won't waste any more of your precious time, Saeyoung. I'm going to pull this lever to reveal a hidden room. That's where she will be. Once you see for yourself, there will be no reason to doubt me. I didn't do a thing to her."

Tom yanked the lever all the way down until it made a strange clunking noise, and sure enough, the wall divided into two and opened up. An invasion of incandescent light spilled into the room from the other side, illuminating the darkness that had surrounded them. Luciel put up his arm to try and block the overbearing glare and squinted as he struggled to adjust to the brightness.

Then, as everything came into clearer focus, he could see the faint outline of Eun-ji's slender body beneath her clothes, the way her long brown hair draped over her neckline and shoulders. All those familiar features that he thought he had lost forever were suddenly becoming real once again. He wanted to reach out and feel the softness of her skin under his fingers, to fulfil her deepest desires and make her feel loved however she wanted. Whatever animosity existed between them, whatever had happened with Zen – none of it mattered to him anymore.

But despite the beauty of her presence, a large and obtrusive metallic cage had Eun-ji pitilessly trapped within it. Her hands were tied with rope behind her back to the chair on which she was sitting, patiently waiting for the Defender of Justice to return.

As Luciel approached, his form materialised under the harshness of the overhead light, and she looked up at him, her wet, shaking eyes all at once expressing the relief, the guilt, the pain that her soul seemed to be keeping.

"Saeyoung …"

"Yes, Eun-ji … It's me. I've come for you."


	27. Saviour 707

**Ciphertext – Chapter 27: Saviour 707**

"Saeyoung …"

"Yes, Eun-ji … It's me. I've come for you."

Luciel's words echoed around in Eun-ji's mind, trying desperately to find a place to rest. He looked like a saint standing there before her, his cracked glasses glinting under the beaming light that outlined his figure.

Eun-ji felt her eyes well up with tears. "S-Saeyoung …"

Standing with his back to the posse of Jumin's bodyguards, Tom flippantly gestured to them to stay in the other room. "Now, now boys. Don't worry, I won't lay a finger on him. I promise." He turned his head slightly to reveal his side profile.

The men shuffled towards him, guns at the ready, sensing that he was scheming something. On this occasion, it was their national duty to protect Luciel Choi. "Get back …" Tom warned, his tone a little more spirited than before. "I'll make you regret pointing those puny weapons at me."

The bodyguards ignored his words and tried to get closer, but as soon as they moved, they were greeted by three gigantic western men who had materialised from the back of the room, dressed in camouflage and wielding Uzis. It looked like overkill, but they were still terrifying to behold. Their expressions told the bodyguards that they weren't messing around. One of Jumin's men dropped his gun on the floor and put his hands up in surrender. The others looked around at one another, and realising that it would be pointless trying to fire at the muscular army reps, the rest followed suit.

"So, just put your handguns away and let _my_ men take you through to the other room. Have a cup of coffee, and I'll let you know when we're done." Tom confirmed, putting on the best poker face he could muster.

Though Luciel was aware of what was happening, he was too caught up thinking about Eun-ji to care. Putting a hand to his chest, the way he always did when something had managed to claw its way into his emotional sphere, Luciel took a deep breath before slowly exhaling and walking a few more paces towards the cage.

"Eun-ji, are you alright?" he said, concerned about how defenceless she looked. "I won't lie Eun-ji. I'm pissed off about what you did with Zen …" he began, his gaze trailing off slightly to one side. "But please just … just tell me you weren't seriously going to go through with it. I know he's an attractive guy but still-"

Eun-ji felt sick to her stomach thinking that she'd worried Luciel so much. All the resentment she had been harbouring about how he had practically written her off bubbled ferociously up to the surface, filling her insides with dread.

She shook her head in fervent denial and her tears moistened her cheeks as they fell down, unashamedly, uncontrollably. She knew there was only the deepest truth lurking behind them, but she couldn't show it just yet, not while Tom was there.

 _I want to tell you everything soon, Saeyoung._

 _Once we get out of here, I'll try to explain._

Though he couldn't hear her thoughts, Luciel swore he could feel her heart starting to burst as she cried. "Hey … don't worry … sweetie." He blushed at his sudden use of that word. It wasn't like him to use it. "I-I know things have happened kind of fast between us and I mean … I never thought I'd have the chance to even talk with you so …" he took a moment to find the right phrasing and coughed to clear his throat. "… I'm really grateful that we finally met."

"No!" Eun-ji finally managed to say. "Please don't tell me what you're really thinking right now. I can't take your honesty today. Just know that I love you too far too much to let you go." She sobbed even harder now, the skin on her hands burning beneath the ropes that tied them together as she rocked backwards and forwards in agony. "I'm so sorry for what I did."

Watching her, Luciel couldn't help but feel guilty too. He'd been hurt by her actions, but she wasn't the only one at fault after all. "That's not …. I'm not-," he began, but was interrupted by that all-too-familiar voice.

"Alright, alright! Jeez …" Tom let out a pre-determined yawn as he started clapping his hands in a sarcastic display of enthusiasm. "That's enough already! It's making me wretch just watching you two get all emo over each other." He walked over to the wall that had opened when they entered the room and tapped the right-hand side a couple of times with his fingers. It started to automatically slide back across the room and after a short time, it had already closed right up again with no sign of a break anywhere.

Tom crept up behind Luciel and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Come on, children, let's stop all this playing around and get down to business. Saeyoung …" he said, squeezing the hacker's upper arms and giving him a gentle push towards the punitive, endearing cage. Running a hand slowly along Luciel's left arm he forced him to stretch it outwards before guiding him closer to where Eun-ji was sat there, waiting for him.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Whispering into his ear, Tom crooned his simple instructions. "Hold onto those bars and you'll be one step closer to setting her free. That's all it takes."

Luciel felt a wave of panic wash over him. "Why are you trying to help me Tom? What's in it for you?" This was altogether too fishy and it reeked of trouble.

"Nothing much," said Tom, smirking from ear-to-ear. "I just like to have fun, that's all. If you've got a problem with my recreational habits, I'd appreciate you keeping quiet anyway."

Eun-ji raised her head to see the red-haired hacker being forced forwards by the taller man, inching him nearer and nearer. She felt a lump forming in her throat as she tried to warn her lover about the danger.

"No, Saeyoung. Don't come any closer! The cage, it's-!"

Tom suddenly rammed Luciel hard against the cold metal bars and expertly strapped his hands to them using the pair of handcuffs from his jacket pocket he'd prepared in advance. Then, he made sure he was a good distance away from the contraption and smiled perversely at his fresh captive. Finding yet another switch on the wall, he pushed a button and without any warning, a sharp surge of electricity bolted through Luciel's body. It was like a high-precision thunderbolt striking at his very core.

"Fuckkkk~!"

As Luciel screamed out in pain, his voice echoed as it bounced off the walls. He tried desperately to keep his balance by gripping onto the bars, but it was no good. The electric shock just hit him again, much harder this time.

Shaky and confused, Luciel dropped to his knees, the handcuffs keeping his arms at an awkward angle behind his back, scraping against the bars as he descended. This situation felt similar to when he had experienced that hallucination near the reception. Those angels still seemed to be cowering over him and taunting him; even though they were no longer there, the image came back into his mind. He buried his face in his hands and shoved his glasses off his face in frustration, letting them fall to the floor. This time, they shattered completely and the shards of fragile glass created a strangely beautiful mosaic pattern that refracted the light above.

Tom crouched down by Luciel and grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling his head backwards and staring into his eyes. "Isn't this so perfect? You get to be near Miss Moon, but this time I don't have to watch you screwing her over CCTV. Nothing could make me sicker than that."

"It's not like you had to watch that footage, you know," mused Luciel. "You could have just chosen to skip that part."

 _He keeps talking about me and her, like it's something to be ashamed of, but could he just be …_

 _… jealous?_

Tom pushed the hacker's head forward again, not enjoying the light back-talk he was getting. "Tch! Whatever. I'll just make sure you understand what I've been going through all these years, my _friend_."

Luciel felt so useless at that moment, like his whole life had just been one stupid joke. After all, what was the point in living if he couldn't be helpful?

"Saeyoung …" came that truly angelic voice from behind. "I know you have a plan." She hesitated for a moment. "I mean … please say you have one."

Although he had been silently doubting himself, but hearing her encouragement made Luciel feel at least somewhat more capable of getting them both out alive. He turned to face Eun-ji as best he could, managing to strike up a softly reassuring smile.


	28. Turnaround

I know the updates for this fic are getting more and more sporadic. Sorry about that. Just me taking my time to write, or actually making time to write this. Also, I decided to write a one-shot Jaehee x Zen x Jumin smutfic just for the hell of it - check it out if you're interested. There's perhaps a bit of an odd identification with Jaehee throughout the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and I'm looking forward to getting around to the next chapter, which hopefully will be less intense.

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 **Ciphertext – Chapter 28: Turnaround**

Tom crouched over him. "Saeyoung … you _do_ have a plan, don't you?" he said, mimicking Eun-ji's worried, feminine tone.

"Shut up! You're really starting to piss me off!" barked Luciel.

"Hmm. Only now?" Tom briefly ran his hands through Luciel's hair again, as he seemed to enjoy doing. Though it could easily be misconstrued by others, Luciel could sense that Tom's touch wasn't meant to be sexual; it was more of an attempt to tame his inner rebel. "And here I was thinking that I'd been successfully pissing you off ever since I selected you to work for me. Save yourself the trouble and just give up. I'm so much stronger than you are." He let off a light snigger. "After all, you're relying entirely on me to live and right now …" he cast his eyes over the tight binary code boxer shorts Luciel was sporting, "… you're just a little too defenceless tied to this cage in your underwear."

Luciel dropped his head and stared at the dismal concrete ground. "Think about it. Even if I do have a plan, why the fuck would I tell you what it is?"

"I can already tell that you think you're doomed, looking down like that. I'm holding the leash here, and my men won't hesitate to take you down. They were flown in specially from the US at my request you know."

 _Damn. I need to buy myself some time here_

"So, what you're saying is … either way I'm going to die?" Luciel asked, sighing as though he didn't really care what the answer would be.

Tom took a syringe from his jacket pocket and pushed a little of the blueish liquid contained inside it through the tiny needle on the end. "Not if you just co-operate and let me inject this serum into you. Then I'll make sure that you get all the company perks when we're … equal partners in my new business. Didn't I promise that we'd start our own company together? You should understand the power of promises better than anyone."

 _But I'm no good to you if I'm dead, am I?_

Hearing this, Eun-ji wrestled against the ropes, trying to shake herself off the chair she was bound to. "No, you can't do that to him! Surely deep down you're a reasonable person!" she screamed. Although the seat itself was extremely weighty, Eun-ji managed to topple it over and it came crashing down hard onto the base of the cage. As she fell, although she grazed her left arm, she had at least been sure to lift up her neck to avoid concussion. She knew all too well that her verbal protest would get them nowhere, but she wanted to say something, anything, that might stall Tom, even just for a few seconds.

"Oh look, she reacted again. How cute, I think my heart just skipped a beat!" said Tom, cocking his head to one side as he motioned towards the American man standing nearest the cage. "I know you care about him but just stay quiet for now, okay … _sweetie_?"

The American nodded once at Tom silent command, pushed his Uzi out of the way and flicked a switch on the right-hand side of the cage. Then, he grabbed onto two of the bars and prised them apart in a display of brute force. He might as well have been superhuman. Then, he took a roll of black parcel tape from his utility belt and cut off a small strip using his teeth. He bent down to secure it firmly over Eun-ji's mouth, but said nothing.

Eun-ji grumbled something incomprehensible from under the tape. "Mmm-hmmm-hmmm!"

"I'm sorry …." Luciel furrowed his brows as he turned his head to see Eun-ji struggling. The way Tom had spoken to Eun-ji was so perverse. Had he not been so tightly secured to these bars, he would have no trouble taking things up with Tom directly, man-to-man. He wanted to fight those guys and get Eun-ji the hell out of there, but he knew that physical strength wasn't his strongest quality. His brain just needed space to think, to try and fit all the missing pieces together. So many years had passed since Luciel had last seen Tom that he didn't have the faintest idea what he could possibly dredge up from those days.

But then it hit him, clear as day. There was, at least, one person they both knew from Busan. Maybe he could mention their name to spark some nostalgia.

"Tom. When was the last time you saw V?"

Bringing the syringe closer to Luciel's neck, Tom rolled his eyes, fed up with the interrogation. "Honestly, you have more questions … at a time like this? Who cares about V anyway? You don't need to bring him up now."

 _Why is he so reluctant to talk about him?_

Luciel moved his head in the opposite direction to avoid the needle, but Tom gripped him by the throat and rammed him against the bars again. Luciel spluttered as he tried to catch his breath.

"Fuck! Just stay still Saeyoung, you're making this take longer than it needs to!"

Trying to prise Tom's hand away from his throat, Luciel was only just audible as he spoke. "Nngghh … w-why …. won't you … t-t-talk … about V … ngghh … come on!"

The hold that Tom had over him was getting too intense to stomach and Luciel's survival instincts finally started to take over.

 _This isn't something my mind alone can solve. I guess I don't have much choice …_

Luciel hurled his knees swiftly upwards. Despite his disadvantaged position, he managed to land a lethal kick straight to the man's groin, making him cry out in agony. The syringe fell to the ground and the needle landed at such an angle that it snapped off at the base, rendering the instrument useless. Tom fell forwards, grabbing his manhood, his jet black hair hanging loosely over his face. As he did, another syringe dropped from inside his sleeve and rolled over to Luciel's right foot. The cap also came loose so that the needle was exposed.

 _It's my lucky day!_

Before Tom could even prepare to retaliate, Luciel's reflexes were quick to react. He grasped the thing expertly between his toes, flipped it into the air before catching it in his mouth and balancing it between his teeth. It was times like these that he loved how flexible his body could be. His eyes lit up as he noticed the perfect spot to insert the needle.

But without warning, the American who had taped Eun-ji's mouth clocked what Luciel was trying to do and hastily snatched the needle from his hands. He scowled down at Luciel as he gazed up at the muscular hulk of a man standing over him.

"What are you-?" Luciel began, feeling overwhelmed all of a sudden.

The man replied in English. "Listen kid, if you're gonna do this thing, you gotta do it properly!"

"Do it prop-er-ly?" echoed Luciel, trying to make sense of these foreign words. "Sorry … I don't speak English."

"God dammit, this is no time to fool around bro! I don't care if you speak English or not, I'm here to help you."

 _Help?_

Now that was a word he did understand.

And with that, the American took the syringe and jabbed it harshly into the side of Tom's neck, eliciting a high-pitched scream from the man. The American smiled, satisfied with the reaction. "See? You gotta aim for the carotid artery right here." He pushed the fluid through the needle until every last drop had been drained out. He gave a throaty laugh. "Since I just used an entire dose, he won't be able to feel anything for a while and eventually his brain is gonna be like mush."

 _No way! He's helping me?_

Luciel didn't understand the turn of events. If these American men were brought to South Korea to assist Tom with his mission, what made them act against him like this? He looked over at the other two burly men who were guarding the cage. They weren't trying to stop their comrade, so they must have been conspiring something together from the beginning. Tom's eyes seemed to roll back in his head and he started shaking uncontrollably as the drug took effect. Luciel felt terrible, but he knew that this was the best way to paralyse him.

At this point, Luciel was not confident enough in his English ability, but he really felt like trying in any case. "Why you're help us?" he said, but then he realised he was unlikely to understand the response.

"We're helping you because Mr. Park is a wanted man. He's been on the CIA's watch list for fuckin' months! Finally, we get this opportunity to work undercover and pose as hitmen. Had priority boarding on private planes to fly out here and catch him ourselves. Of course, we couldn't do it alone. Had some help from the South Korean government. They've been secretly keeping an eye on him." Then, realising that Luciel was staring up at him with a blank expression on his face, he proceeded in Korean. "Hey, you're not even sure what I just said are you?"

Luciel was a bit embarrassed. "No. But … you actually speak Korean?" he asked.

"Yeah, we all do," he said, smiling. "That's a requirement for this job."

Feeling relieved, Luciel smiled back at his ally. "Then, can you let Eun-ji and I go now?"

"Sure," he confirmed and pointed towards Eun-ji. "Obviously this one knows something about you that we don't." He eyed Luciel's boxer shorts. "That, or she's just got a kink for binary code." He laughed and bent down to look Eun-ji in the eyes and winked. "Whatever turns you on I guess."

Her face turned visibly redder as she heard his comment. It wasn't as though she had any discovered any specific kinks in the first place. Maybe Luciel just made all those things more intriguing, more unique, and she loved that about him.

Luciel looked over at her, feeling at ease for the first time in a while. She was so much calmer now. He turned back to the American. "I wear stupid boxer shorts, make cringe-worthy jokes and say things I don't mean. So for putting up with that, I think she deserves to be untied first." He paused. "And also because I-"

"Oh no, please! Save all the soppy stuff for later when you two are alone. I've seen my fair share of South Korean dramas. And can I just say, those boxer shorts are so cool – you're gonna have to get me a pair!" he laughed. "Come on, let's get you both out of here already."

Watching as the American carefully removed the parcel tape from Eun-ji's mouth, Luciel nodded in agreement. It was true that he had started to grow a bit emotionally soft recently, but he liked the way it had afforded him a totally different perspective and took him away from the mind-numbing routine he felt he'd been programmed to follow.

Eun-ji breathed a long sigh of relief and the ropes around her were loosened and she could move again. She rose to her feet, slightly shakily at first and gripped her throbbing, grazed arm. There was just enough room to squeeze between those two bars that had been forced apart, so she slipped out cautiously.

One of the other man released Luciel from the cuffs and helped him up. He walked over to Eun-ji and put both arms around her waist, squeezing her in towards him gently.

"Saeyoung. Are we safe now?" she asked, returning his touch but keeping her eyes fixed on Tom's pathetic, twitching body lying there on the ground. "I don't want anything like this to happen to us again. Promise me."

 _Can I really promise her anything? I don't want to. Promises are just made to be broken, aren't they?_

"Listen, Eun-ji," he said, planting a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry things had to happen like this. No-one every really knows what's going to happen tomorrow, but if we can help each other, I know we can do great things. So no, I won't whisper any sweet promises into your ear. Just believe me when I say, from now on, there are no more secrets between us."

"S-Saeyoung. I want to tell you so many things, but up until now I've been too scared of your reaction." Eun-ji looked sheepish all of a sudden. It was clear that she couldn't take her gaze away from Tom. "Do we really have to stay here and watch this guy disintegrate? All I want to do right now is stay at your place so we can talk."

The third American tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, miss. Mr. Park's as good as dead now. Or at least he won't last much longer considering all the stuff we pumped into his veins."

She nodded. "Thank you. Now that I've seen first-hand what kind of boss Saeyoung was working for, I couldn't be happier that he's going to die soon." She looked tearful as she said this. "But really, how can I wish that another human being was dead? What's wrong with me?"

"It's okay Eun-ji. Don't let yourself feel guilty about it. We both have every reason to think that way. He was a nasty piece of work." Luciel swept Eun-ji's hair back behind her ears and kissed the length of her neck tenderly as he pulled her in even closer towards him. She could feel him getting a little turned on by the physical contact between them. "How about we go home and make up for the time we lost?"

Eun-ji smiled. "Well, it looks like you're hungry for something," she noted, running her fingers through his red hair playfully. "I wonder what it could be?"

"I think you already know." He teased the lower hem of Eun-ji's top and brushed his fingers slowly yet lightly across the smooth skin beneath. His hands were cold which made her flinch a little, but she couldn't deny that it felt nice all the same.

"Mmmm. I think you want something …. spicy." Eun-ji brought one leg up and casually brushed it past the front of Luciel's boxers. "You want something … satisfying," she leaned in for a kiss but stopped and tilted her head to one side, observing the subtle hints that were coming through in his expression. "You are craving something … saucy."

He licked her nose several times. It was supposed to be cute. "Oooh. You are so good at this game meow. Can you tell what it is yet meow?"

"Of course," confirmed Eun-ji, seeming very cunning all of a sudden.

"Ooh ooh ooh … You mean you really know?"

Eun-ji fist pumped the air. "LET'S. GET. PIZZA!"

Luciel giggled and jumped around excitably before embracing her tightly. "YES! This is exactly why we should be together! Guys, let me tell you something. This is true love right here! A girl who loves pizza is definitely something special."

The American men looked at one another and chuckled to themselves. The tallest one couldn't help but add a little comment.

"See, this is what I mean. South Korean romance is just like … what the fuck man?"


	29. Heading Home

A/N - Hello all. Here's the next chapter. I realise that the end of this is a little less focused on Eun-ji and Seven but you know ... JuJu (that's my pet name for Jumin) needs some love and affection too.

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 **Ciphertext – Chapter 29: Heading Home**

Ralph, the least vocal of the American men, grabbed Tom roughly by the collar and dragged his lifeless body across the floor. Meanwhile the other two, Joe and Mike, escorted Luciel and Eun-ji away from the scene, leaving their Uzis behind. The bodyguards Jumin had sent exchanged confused glances as the wall divider slid across and they saw that their sole target had already been taken care of.

"The task is complete," said Joe, "Your duty has been fulfilled. Tell President Song he won't need to worry about this anymore."

Feeling more than a little redundant, one of the bodyguards tried to voice his concern. "But-"

"Hey, listen. If Joe said don't worry about it, then don't worry about it. We're all on your side after all," Mike piped up, hoping to put the South Korean's concerns at bay.

"No, I mean … I just feel like we didn't really achieve anything by being here. What was the point of Mr. Han requesting us in the first place?"

Mike put a hand on the man's shoulder. "It's not Mr. Han's business to get involved with the inner workings of the government, even if his company does have a strong affiliation with them for various reasons. His sending you guys here was a good strategy. You were the perfect decoys, alright? Without you, and without 707's meddling, Tom might not have acted the way he did, and that's exactly what we needed to take him down." He smiled, with an air of masculine reassurance. "So, go back to your headquarters and proudly tell them that you've all played your roles in defending this country from cybercrime that could have led to war."

The bodyguards all nodded slowly, gradually accepting what Mike was saying. "Okay, we'll do that," said one of them, extending his hand. He and Mike exchanged a firm handshake in recognition of their respective efforts. "Thank you. We owe you too."

As though on cue, Luciel received a text from Jumin. He had been informed directly by President Song of the couple's successful escape. He and driver Kim happened to be in the area following a business engagement so he wanted to offer them a lift back to Rika's apartment. Luciel quickly tapped out a reply to accept. There was little point in taking the train when they could carpool with Jumin.

Within a matter of minutes, C&R's shiny black Mercedes pulled up outside the skyscraper. Luciel and Eun-ji stood up from the bench they had been passing their time on and waltzed over to the car. Taking a moment to admire the sleek beauty of the exterior, Luciel ran his fingers along the glorious paintwork, humming contentedly to himself.

Eun-ji watched him admiring the car's bodywork and smiled. She was glad to see him being more open and engaged. This was the side of him she wanted to see more often. "Don't pay too much attention to that car, or I'll get jealous," she chided, putting her arms around him from behind. "And I'm going to make sure we don't ignore each other from now on."

Luciel gulped as he felt her breasts massage their way into the curve of his back. "Mmmm. Eun-ji. Do you _have_ to do that to me right now? The combination of the sexy car and the sexy you … Well, it's just too much for my poor body to compute. Oh, what shall I do? You're both going to spoil me!"

Eun-ji pouted childishly and moved around to face him. "Hmph! You're comparing me to this piece of shiny, corporate excess?" she teased, putting her hands on her hips.

Feigning a major dramatic performance, Luciel acted as though arrows had been fired into his heart. "Gahh! Take back your words at once I say! You'll never understand the dilemma of a man and his smoking hot babes! Why is love so complicated? Can't we just have a never-ending polyamorous relationship with Jumin's car and my Spyder?" He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her body closer to his. "Well, you know, car romance _is_ a nice fantasy, but there's only one human being I want to be with." The way he referred to Eun-ji as a 'human being' made it seem like he really was some kind of alien life form, sent from space to observe the people of earth.

Hazily, he looked his lover deep in the eyes and leaned in for a kiss, momentarily blocking out his surroundings. Eun-ji returned the sentiment and relished the taste of his warm breath on her lips and the way his wet, sensual tongue thoroughly explored her mouth.

Jumin lowered his tinted window and let out a purposeful cough. "Luciel!" he called, making both Luciel and Eun-ji jump and suddenly break their kiss. "Are you coming or not?"

"Hmm." Luciel looked down at his pants and shrugged. "Not yet, but just … let me touch your gorgeous Mercedes some more. Then I really might come, right here in the middle of the street, all over this glorious paintwork," he joked, stroking the side of the car once more and throwing the CEO a disturbingly cute look. "Do you have a kink for car sex, Mr. Boss man?"

"If you're trying to make me admit to something dirty, then you are failing miserably. Would you both please just get in the car? There's no need to make a fool of yourselves in public."

Jumin's expression remained cool and composed, but Luciel could have sworn he spotted a hint of a smile there somewhere. He probably just didn't want to be embarrassed in front of Driver Kim, since he was the only one who knew their secret.

Luciel was about to reach for the handle, but Driver Kim rushed out of his seat abruptly and walked over to open it for him. Slightly taken aback by the strange sense of luxury, Luciel felt a little spurt of cheekiness rise up inside him.

"Why thank you, kind sir!" he said, grinning widely in a display of mock appreciation. Both the comment and tone had come across in a more ridiculous fashion than he had intended. This time, even he cringed at the sound of his own voice.

Seeing how silent and professional Driver Kim was being, Eun-ji jabbed Luciel in ribcage lightly with her fingers and he jolted at her touch, grabbing his side. She could feel sweat drops forming on her forehead as she took in the bittersweet nature of his personality. "Come on, Saeyoung."

"Heh. Okay, okay. I'm getting in now." He pulled Eun-ji in behind him and they made themselves comfortable on the squeaky clean beige leather seats. Driver Kim closed the door behind them and returned to his place at the wheel.

As the car ignition growled on, Jumin turned to greet Eun-ji. "Miss Moon, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

She smiled, a little nervously, but soon plucked up some confidence as she realised that he wasn't as standoffish as she had initially thought. "Likewise. Please, just call me Eun-ji."

"Alright then, Eun-ji." He sighed. "I'm so glad that the two of you are safe."

"It's all thanks to you Jumin," confirmed Luciel. "I know I refused your help earlier, but I really don't think I could have got out alive without those bodyguards coming in at just the right moment."

"You're a strong and independent man Luciel, but sometimes you just need that extra manpower to get you through a sticky situation. I'm always ready to lend a hand to friends, and as you can see, not just in terms of financial support." He smiled, knowing full well that people always wrongly assumed money was his best asset.

But Luciel had always seen Jumin under a different light. His deep sense of loyalty certainly set him apart from others and was one of the reasons Luciel had been persuaded to join the RFA in the beginning.

Something had been bugging Eun-ji. "Excuse me, Jumin. I've been wondering this for a while now but-"

"Yes? What is it?" said Jumin, almost defensively, unsure of what the next question would be.

"Well, how did you know where to send those bodyguards? Did you have Saeyoung followed?"

"Sae-young?" Jumin echoed, hearing the name for the first time.

"Ah. Saeyoung Choi is my birth name," Luciel chipped in. "Feel free to use it if you like."

Jumin appeared unfazed by this revelation. "I see. No … I think I'll continue to call you Luciel or else I'll get confused." To him, trivial things like this made no difference when it came to friendship.

"Fine by me," said Luciel. "Anyway, I was wondering the same thing as Eun-ji; how did you locate me when I never gave you the address?"

"Frankly, I'm shocked that you didn't notice, but when we were saying goodbye on the train earlier, I put a hand on your shoulder. That's when I-"

It suddenly clicked and the puzzle piece fell into place. "Ohhh! So you stuck a tracking device on me!" Luciel said, in a more nasally, high-pitched tone than usual. "Haha! Good thinking man!"

"Yes. I knew you wouldn't accept an offer outright, but I had a feeling that you were going to require some backup. It was pointless me being there myself, since I have no experience with these things. Strange, I never carry tracking devices with me, but I happened to have one that Assistant Kang gave me for the train journey. That was a ridiculous suggestion on her part, but I'm pleased it was put to good use. I have a lot to be grateful to that woman for."

"You had a _feeling_ I'd need backup? Wow, that's very … unusual for you Jumin. Don't you normally need a clear, logical reasons to make a decision like that? It was so split-second! I'm touched!" Luciel put a hand to his chest and exhaled sharply. "Anyway, the main thing is that we made it out unharmed."

Luciel turned to his right so he could face Eun-ji and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "Isn't that right … meow?"

She rubbed her face all over his hand like a cat. She purred into his ear, biting tenderly at his ear lobe. "That's right, meow!"

 _OMG! So cute! Why do we have to be inside Jumin's car right now? I just want to-_

"Mmmm. Make those cat noises too often and you're going to be in for a _big_ surprise when we get back," he said, licking her face playfully. Then, he whispered. "There's uh … something I've got my eye on that I think we'll both enjoy." He brushed her hair backwards and winked, his eyes seeming to sparkle mischievously. Eun-ji had no idea what he was planning, but she liked nice surprises.

"I can't wait for you to show me, meow!"

 _Oh God my heart … no … Well, my heart isn't exactly the issue right now!_

Driver Kim, although mostly engrossed in driving, couldn't help but pay attention to the two of them flirting with each other in the back and blushed a little. He looked over at Jumin who was staring back at him, a needy look in his eyes.

Jumin was admiring the way the man's soft brown hair was so neatly trimmed and well-kept. He pondered the white driving gloves he was wearing and let out a small pleasured moan, which scared Driver Kim, but he didn't let it show.

"Mr. Han," the man finally spoke up. "Is something the matter?"

"It's alright, Kun-woo. Don't be so formal with me anymore." He moved his hand over to where Driver Kim had his hand poised on the gear stick and gently clasped it, stroking the soft material with his index finger. "He already knows about us."

"B-but … J-Jumin," he stammered in response, trying desperately to stay focused on the road ahead. "I thought we discussed this. What happens if there's a scandal?"

Jumin squeezed the exquisite hand beneath. "Stop worrying so much. Just know that I trust Luciel not to tell anyone."

Driver Kim looked hesitant. "Well … okay. If you're sure. But it will be your ass on the line if the papers get wind of this. After all, I am just your driver."

Hearing this, Jumin frowned. "No. You're not _just_ my driver," he said, insistent. "And I'll prove that to you tonight. You're coming to my penthouse and we'll finally get around to doing whatever you want." Jumin paused, reddening as he considered the kinds of acts he'd perform. "You do want to do _that_ with me, don't you?"

"I-," Driver Kim felt himself starting to get aroused at the prospect of finally engaging in sex with Jumin but he willing himself to calm down. He swallowed hard and checked to see whether Eun-ji and Luciel were eavesdropping on their conversation, but they were still preoccupied with their flirting. "Oh Jumin. You know I do, more than anything but I just … I just wish things were easier to manage between us."

Jumin knew that under any circumstances, pursuing their relationship further would be risky, but this man had been there for him countless times when he'd been in a pinch. He would be lying if he said he wasn't falling more and more in love with him by the second.

"I'll do everything in my power to make things work out between us, Kun-woo. If we're in agreement about tonight, I'll have Jaehee cancel my breakfast meeting tomorrow so we can enjoy a freshly cooked meal prepared by my chef. He is sworn to confidentiality, so anything that happens within the numerous walls of my penthouse remains a secret."

Driver Kim thought he was going to cry with joy, but he simply smiled and cherished the thought that tonight, he would have the pleasure of unleashing the beast that had been dormant within C&R's prized Chairman-to-be for far too long.


	30. An Unexpected Visitor

**Ciphertext – Chapter 30: An Unexpected Visitor**

Upon reaching the apartment complex, Eun-ji and Luciel thanked and waved goodbye to Jumin and Driver Kim before entering the building and ascending the stairs.

Luciel sniggered boyishly. "Heheh. Did you see those two getting all lovey-dovey over each other back there?"

Eun-ji looked baffled. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh-ho-ho … you didn't notice?" Luciel felt a little stupid for bringing it up. "Apparently Jumin will let Driver Kim do 'whatever he wants' tonight at his penthouse," he said, imitating Jumin's corporate stance and making air quotes with his fingers.

"Yeah, so?" Eun-ji raised an eyebrow and smirked a little, knowing precisely what he was insinuating. "Who cares if Jumin's gay anyway. It's none of our business, is it?"

Luciel waved his hands around to try and clear up the misunderstanding. "A-ah, no. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I care that he likes guys. After all, he's my friend and it didn't surprise me when he told me earlier. I guess even someone as seemingly cold as Jumin can fall in love."

As he turned the lock on the door and they walked into the apartment, Eun-ji wrapped her arms around Luciel's waist from behind and buried her face into the back of his hoodie. "What about you? You're not going to keep letting your insecurities hold you back are you? After all, I don't want you to push me away again." She sounded concerned.

"Eu-Eunji."

Luciel felt himself tense up a bit as she embraced him with such passion. He placed his hands on hers. Her skin felt warm and soft beneath his fingers.

"It's alright. I know I put myself down a lot in the past, but since I met you, I've realised that I need to change. No matter how I look at things, I've always had a choice. Up until now, I just chose to accept the foolish route, full of empty, meaningless rules and deceit." As he spoke, it sounded as though he was deep in thought. He let out a heavy sigh and turned around to face Eun-ji. "I want to know more about what Tom was planning. I just can't help but feel guilty about what I was involved with."

Eun-ji took his cross pendant in one hand and held it against his chest while she traced its contours gracefully. "You were just being used by him and since you didn't know his true intentions, none of it was your fault. I'm sure God will love you all the same and …" she paused for a second, wondering whether this would be the right thing to say, "even if he abandons you, I'll still be here."

Luciel's heart twinged with joy at this reassurance. He swivelled around to stand behind Eun-ji and whispered into her ear an appreciative "thank you." Then, closing his eyes, he ran his fingers underneath her chin and along her neck before lightly sniffing her like a curious animal.

"Mmm. You smell _so_ good right now. I just want to-"

Eun-ji's body temperature rose quickly and all the blood rushed to her face as his nose tickled her skin. He pressed his needy erection against her and she let out a cute moan as she felt just how horny he'd become.

He ushered her into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

"Saeyoung …" despite her obvious reciprocal lusting for him, there was a slight hesitation coming through in her voice. "I'm so, so, sorry. I shouldn't have gone over to Zen's place without telling you. I don't know what came over me I just- my mind was-"

"Shhhh."

Luciel put his index finger to her lips. "I already told you, that doesn't matter to me anymore. I'm just happy you're safe and that Tom didn't hurt you." His hands crept onto her waist and he started to fondle the smooth skin there in large confident, circles. "I wouldn't like it if he'd touched you here."

"But how can you just-? I don't-" Eun-ji struggled to make sense of her words.

Luciel gave her a look that made her want to stop talking midsentence and leaned forward for a kiss. She closed her eyes and accepted it, savouring each second. After a short while, their lips parted again and they just admired each other's faces.

"Are you going to keep worrying about it when all I want to do right now is make you feel good, to help us both forget what's happened?" He looked down at his crotch, a little ashamed of how keen his primal instincts were. "And anyway … I've kind of been holding it in since we got into Jumin's car."

All Eun-ji's senses tingled knowing that he'd been aching to fuck her for the entire journey across Seoul. She moaned as he continued to stroke her skin. "B-but really. Tell me why you aren't still angry with me." It was difficult to get her head around the issue.

Luciel laughed and shrugged since he really didn't know how to communicate it to her verbally anymore. It looked like he would just have to tell her through body language instead.

"Listen Eun-ji. If I was still pissed off, would I really want to do this?"

Eun-ji knew he was right, and it wasn't like she wasn't already getting wet just thinking about what he might do next. "People can have sex even when they're angry, you know."

"Yeah, sure. That's true. But I'm not angry …" Luciel smiled and hitched up her sweater and traced his tongue over the microscopic beads of sweat that were clinging sexily to her torso. He left a light, transparent trail of saliva behind. Eun-ji shivered at the simultaneously cool yet strangely warm sensation, her mind wandering with anticipation. Looking up at her visibly worried face he said. "I promise you I'm happy, okay?"

Eun-ji nodded in acknowledgement. His hands glided down towards the hem of her skirt and tucked his fingers around the edges before gently pulling the garment down to expose her slender legs. Fixing his gaze on her red lace panties, his head gravitated towards them without even a moment's hesitation. He began to slowly lick around where her opening lay beneath, dampening the material to perfection.

"Ah!" Eun-ji tried to muffle her pleasure as Luciel continued to curl his tongue around her sensitive areas. She didn't even need to be fully exposed for it to feel amazing.

His face reddened as he traced the concave shape of her vagina, pushing his tongue into it a little so that the lace entered her slightly, generating a stimulating friction. Every now and again, he would lick in an upwards motion to tease the nub of her clit. He could locate it easily since it had already become so engorged.

"Mmm. Saeyoung …" Eun-ji's legs unconsciously closed in around Luciel's head as he explored every millimetre. "Your tongue is … ahh." Hearing those moans only turned him on even more.

Having slipped a couple of fingers along the underside of her panties, Luciel guided them off cautiously, being sure to warm up her legs with the friction from his hands as they moved. He ran his fingers through her neatly trimmed pubic hair masterfully, brushing over all her sensitive parts. Moving inwards again, he opened his mouth to continue where he left off.

Eun-ji took a fistful of his hair, a little too forcefully which caused him to stare up at her. "Isn't it a bit dirty down there? I-I mean …"

Luciel was slightly surprised by this new concern. "Hmm? You don't want me to?"

"No, no, no. I mean yes, but-" She was more flustered than she'd realised.

Luciel bit his bottom lip, awkwardly and grinned. "Then why are you being so shy about it? We didn't get any pizza yet and I'm hungry," he replied, drooling a little as he envisaged his favourite meal.

As he neared her entrance, she could feel herself getting too excited to hold anything back. When he finally got a first taste of her tight hole, a light drizzle of clear fluid oozed out and Luciel lapped at the area around her labia like it was the last drop of water at the bottom of a well.

"Wow. It's so sweet!" he exclaimed, swallowing it quickly.

Eun-ji laughed as she felt her insides melt at the direct contact, but averted her eyes. "That can't taste good. You don't have to tell me it does just to please me."

"Heh. Well maybe I just have a warped sense of taste, but it really isn't bad at all. Honest." The way he was beaming at her so sneakily made her second guess him, but he seemed determined to do the deed regardless.

Feeling the blood circulating steadily around her body, she spread her legs further apart so he could see everything in perfect detail. "Alright then … go ahead and eat me, you filthy hacker." She winked at him, just so he knew she was at least trying to be light-hearted.

 _Filthy hacker!? Wha-?_

"Oh God. That's such a good view. You're making me extra hard now." Luciel felt his breathing become somewhat more laboured as he fought against the temptation to touch himself. "Okay, I'm gonna dig in!" he announced, perhaps more for his own self-encouragement than her information.

His eager tongue darted straight into her wet orifice and eased itself inside her, penetrating her so fully that his face ended up buried right between her thighs. He probed and slithered in circular motions, relishing in every new taste and texture he encountered. It was the first time he'd gone down on anyone, but he was enjoying it too much to let his inexperience show.

Eun-ji gripped the bedsheets and flung her head backwards as she writhed around, trying to keep her legs as wide open as possible despite the involuntary bodily jerks she kept experiencing.

"Ngggghh. Fuck, Luciel!"

Eun-ji's orgasmic cries combined with the slippery sounds from the foreplay only made Luciel more determined to please. As his tongue explored her inner walls, he took in the feminine scent she was emitting. He almost felt like he was getting drunk on the atmosphere. It only took a few more strokes to make Luciel change tactics. He slipped his tongue out of her vagina and wiped his mouth.

He slipped off his hoodie and top to reveal that nicely toned body. She reached up and ran her fingers across his mildly clammy chest. Suddenly an idea crossed her mind and she brought her face up to his left nipple.

"Hmm?"

Luciel looked a little confused but was intrigued to see what she would do. Eun-ji flicked her tongue over the small, pink bud and moistened it thoroughly before sucking on it in short bursts. She slid her free hand downwards to unzip his jeans niftily. It didn't take long for her fingers to wrap themselves around his hard cock. As she teased its fleshy head using her thumb and forefinger, the pre-cum he had been holding back started to flow out lustrously. Keeping her eyes fixed on his torso, she continued to lick and suck on Luciel's sensitive hardened nipples, which cause him to elicit a series of satisfied, breathy moans. There was more than enough pre-cum to lubricate him fully, so she spread the transparent liquid all over his organ in long, hard strokes, being sure to put a decent amount of pressure on the shaft as she did.

"Ah-!" Luciel couldn't keep himself from reacting to the warm, wet feeling that was enveloping his manhood.

"Does that feel good?" she quizzed, looking up at him and teasing his right nipple between two fingers briefly.

"Nnnggh … yes, of course it does."

Eun-ji continued to jerk him off lightly, alternating between short and long pumps. His face contorted with pleasure as she touched him and she felt herself getting off on the slick, slippery noises coming from his cock. It was a beautiful sound that made her pussy throb with wait.

"Do you want me to go faster?"

Luciel's face had grown more flustered. "Y-yes. I mean, no. Otherwise I'll cum too quickly. I just want to be inside you already."

She released him from her grip and he stood up, discarding his jeans in a hurry. He pushed her further back on the bed and cowered over her, forming a dark and mysterious shadow between their bodies. That beast-like lust was now more present than it ever had been. His eyes communicated just how deeply he longed to penetrate her and make her moan and call out his name. He bent forwards and engaged her in a rocket-fuelled kiss, lapping up the delicious taste that her mouth always seemed to possess.

"Turn over and get on all fours," said Luciel. It was more of a casual remark than it was demanding. "I want to take you from behind."

Eun-ji took off her top and bra. "Wh-what!?"

"Doggy style," he confirmed.

"O-oh!" She breathed a sigh of relief as she assumed her new position on the bed. "I thought you meant-"

"You thought I was talking about having anal sex?" Luciel said, interrupting her and not holding back on the idea at all. "It's a little too soon for that kind of thing, but um … maybe … we can experiment in the future."

"Y-you mean you actually _want_ to do it?" Eun-ji stammered, unsure of how to react.

"Hey, it might feel good. You never know," he noted, grinning

Eun-ji found herself laughing at his not-so-subtle desire to do anal. "Yeah, I'm sure it would feel great … for you!"

"Not just me. Plenty of girls love it in there once they get accustomed to the size. You just have to remember to apply plenty of lube." This was a very matter-of-fact statement that made Luciel sound like some kind of authority figure.

Eun-ji was far too horny to engage him in a drawn-out conversation about what might or might not be tantalising back door shenanigans. Imagining Jumin and Driver Kim was enough for one day. "Saeyoung. Let's save this discussion for another time." She turned to face him, cheeks nearly as red as his hair. Her sweet, naked ass was poised upwards and the inward arch of her back helped accentuate the natural curves of her body. "I just want you inside me."

With that, Luciel silently obeyed, inching closer to her on his knees. He grabbed hold of her delicate hips and readied the tip of his cock at her entrance. The pre-cum he'd been oozing had already disappeared, so he used her vaginal juices to moisten himself again and thrust himself deep inside her warm, wet orifice.

"Ahh-nn!" Eun-ji let out a guttural moan to match his actions.

 _Holy shit that's tight!_

It had only been a matter of days since the first time, but as he felt his cock being joyfully squeezed between her walls, Luciel immediately lost all sense of decorum. It was as though his body had been taken over by a parasite looking to satisfy its hunger.

Luciel moved slowly at first but seeing that Eun-ji was pushing backwards into him, it didn't take him long to pick up the pace and attend to her craving with successive, deep strokes. He clawed her back gently as he fucked her, which caused Eun-ji to gasp a little. She hadn't expected it.

"That feels nice, keep doing that."

He swept her long brown hair to one side and placed his hands onto her shoulders before digging his nails into her again, applying more pressure as he dragged them purposefully down her back. Red scratch marks were left on her skin, but she was clearly enjoying the added sensation as he pounded her harder and faster.

 _DING-DONG_

They both suddenly stopped and Eun-ji turned around to face Luciel.

"Was that the door?"

"Uh …. Maybe."

"No, I'm pretty sure there's someone outside. I wonder who it could be?"

"Ah! It's the pizza I ordered!"

"Seriously?"

"Ya …"

There was a moment of silence before they both realised that one of them would need to get up, put their clothes on and greet the delivery person. But Luciel was still too hard to pull out like this. He knew it was just better to try and to relieve himself quickly. There must have been some kind of logic to his reasoning. He also figured it wasn't fair to leave Eun-ji in a kind of sexual suspense.

"Here I go!" he said, confidently.

Feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, he resumed fucking her as hard as he could. The two of them heaved and panted against one another, the sweat dripping from each pore of their bodies.

 _DING-DONG … DING-DONG!_

The bell rang again, a little more impatiently this time. Luciel grinned as he was finally approaching his limit.

"I'm … I'm coming!"

 _What perfect timing to say that!_

"Yes, Saeyoung! Come all over me!"

He withdrew just in time and emptied his warm seed over Eun-ji's back, enjoying the way it all exploded out and then collected in the concave shape in small white pools. He wiped it off with a hand towel and she flipped herself over to lie face-up. She let out a relieved sigh and just stared at him, silently admiring his performance.

Throwing on his clothes haphazardly, Luciel fixed his hair a little and grabbed some loose change from the side. "I'll go and get the pizza while you have a shower."

Eun-ji nodded and pushed herself onto her feet, skipping happily into the bathroom while humming the tune to some Korean pop song she didn't know the name of.

Luciel made his way over to the door and unbolted it. Although he expected to be able to smell the unmistakable waft of pizza, a very different delivery was waiting for him; a man who had been away for quite some time, with no-one able to contact him by any means.

"V?"

V removed his sunglasses and stared blankly at Luciel.

"I'm back," he stated, his voice blunt and monotonous.

"Don't you even know the code for Rika's apartment?"

"No. It got changed."

"Hmm. Really?" mused Luciel. "Anyway, that's not the point. Since you just decided to show up like this, I think you have a lot of explaining to do."

V said nothing, but slipped inside the apartment nonchalantly.

It was though he'd never left.


	31. V's Story

A/N: We're getting closer and closer to the conclusion of this on-running fanfic (which, admittedly has become the bane of my writing life) - finally! This chapter was longer than I had originally anticipated but now that V is back, let's see what happens. This chapter is more focused on V's absence. Please let me know your thoughts.

* * *

 **Ciphertext - Chapter 31: V's Story**

Luciel watched in disbelief as V just brushed past him and entered the kitchen so nonchalantly. "So … you're just going to waltz in here and pretend like everything's okay? You think you can revert back to your old life at the flick of a switch?"

"That's not what I-" V tried to defend himself, a little feebly.

"You know what? It's already been six months since you disappeared from the RFA. Why would it make any difference if you returned today or next year … or never?"

Choosing to ignore Luciel's hurt response, V placed his sunglasses down on the kitchen counter and cast his eyes over the place. "This was Rika and my apartment, so I should be really more surprised to see you, especially looking like _that._ " Luciel assumed he was referring to the stark change in his appearance. "What are you doing here?" There was a sense of mistrust in his voice, and it seemed like V was just trying to avoid talking about himself.

"It's a long story," admitted Luciel fidgeting with the button on his shirt. "But nothing I shouldn't be doing."

"Hmm …" V sounded a little suspicious. After all, he knew the kinds of exploits the hacker was capable of. Opening one of the higher cupboards, he produced a brown paper bag with something inside and placed it on the table. "Well, I just happen to have time to listen to your long story." He took a bottle of whisky from the bag and unscrewed the cap. "Sit down. Let's talk."

Luciel sneered at him. "The first thing you want to do is drink, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you have a secret stash." V set out two tumblers, filled up one of them and started to pour whisky into the other too, but Luciel placed his hand over the top to block him. "No. I'll talk to you sober."

"Very well, but would you at least take a seat?" said V, motioning to the other side of the table.

Reluctantly, Luciel sat down opposite V, arms crossed, eyes averted. A long, drawn-out silence descended and neither of them knew where to begin.

"So …" V took a sip of his whisky, waiting for the right moment to ask the obvious question. "Who's in the bathroom?"

"My girlfriend, Eun-ji."

V coughed. "Your _girlfriend_? Since when did you have any interest in that kind of thing?"

 _That kind of thing!? She isn't a hobby!_

Scowling, Luciel gave in and responded to V's slightly offensive insinuation. "It's not like I wasn't interested in dating, it's just that my boss had all these ridiculous security measures in place. I couldn't have even approached a girl in the street to ask for directions without the agency doing a detailed background check on her. But surely, that doesn't come as a surprise to you." He looked dejectedly at the floor.

"So, what changed?" V asked, swirling his whisky around in the glass.

"By some cruel twist of fate, I was finally able to meet properly with Eun-ji. I'd seen her at Starbucks several times. We didn't start things off too smoothly though. In fact, she was kidnapped, brought to this apartment and somehow given an RFA messenger profile. We still don't know who was behind it. Anyway, things happened and now … we're … together. It's all been a bit of a whirlwind but I'm happier than I've been in a long time."

V's eyes widened. "Wow. I guess I really did miss a lot."

"Yeah, you did," noted Luciel, sounding a little depressed. "It would have been helpful to have you around."

"I want to apologise to you all, but I just know that disappearing was the right thing to do."

"What!?" Luciel couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why would that be a good thing? You're the head of the RFA and with everything that's happened recently, your guidance really wouldn't have gone amiss. If you'd at least contacted us …"

"I got a new number. It just made things easier. Actually, I phoned Jumin the other day. He said you'd been targeted by someone."

"You spoke to Jumin!? He never mentioned anything to us."

"No, because I told him not to."

"Why?"

"I have my reasons."

Luciel huffed at his lacklustre response. "Fine, whatever. As for the person who was targeting me, it was actually my most elusive boss. He was trying to get me to participate in some political hacking bullshit. Turns out he was someone we both knew quite well in the past."

"Someone … we both knew?" V wondered aloud.

Luciel straightened up and clasped his hands together on the table. "Tom Park. You remember him from when we used to live in Busan, right?"

V felt sick all of a sudden and pressed a hand over his mouth in an effort to keep himself from vomiting. His face had turned noticeably pale.

"V?" Luciel tried to meet the man's trembling eyes. "You don't look so good. Is it the whisky?" he asked, knowing full well that the whisky wasn't the problem.

"Th-that guy … all he ever did was cause trouble."

"What are you talking about?"

V buried his head in his hands and rubbed his temples in frustration. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "I was involved in a development project for a game company called Cheritz …"

"Wait! Did you just say … _Cheritz_!?"

"Yeah. You know them?"

"Well, not exactly but … when I tracked the information from the hacked RFA back to the original source, Cheritz came up. So I looked in their records and they were completely clean. No history of anything illicit or suspicious at all."

"But Tom was the one who hacked into the messenger?"

"Yeah. Looks like he was trying to hide his identity that way. I soon realised my boss was trying to target me specifically, but I would never have suspected it to be Tom, not in a million years. He's too distant from us now."

V's complexion paled even more, a horrid realisation dawning upon him. "What if …." He began, but stopped himself as he realised that spilling the truth could just lead to more hatred.

Luciel waited for him to continue. "What if ….?"

"Never mind. It's nothing."

"No. Tell me V. We shouldn't have any more secrets between us when things have gone this far."

V let out a deep sigh and cupped his face in his hands. "What if … it wasn't actually you he was targeting?"

"But there's no question, he was after me. I'm sure of it. He even stole Eun-ji just to force me to go and meet him. What other explanation is there?"

"…"

There was no answer.

"I don't like this awkward silence, V. If you know something just-"

V took a gulp of his whisky. "We were … having private meetings." He looked especially troubled as he admitted this.

Luciel stood up, pushed his chair backwards and started pacing around the kitchen, trying to understand what his friend had just told him. It was obvious he wasn't just talking about any kind of meeting. It had to be sexual. He groaned and ruffled his hair as he struggled with the pure confusion of it all. There were just no words to express what was running through his mind.

Knowing that this news wasn't anywhere near what Luciel had expected to hear, V opened his mouth to try and clear things up. "Luciel, I-"

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long had things been going on between you?"

V held the whisky glass down onto the table as though it might jump off at any second, gripping it tightly with both hands. He pressed his fingers harder and harder around the shape of the glass until tiny cracks started to form at the edges. He gritted his teeth, trying desperately to hold back his deep, repressed anger and hung his head in despair.

"V!?"

"Please don't make me answer that question Luciel."

"Just tell me!"

"You're not going to like what I tell you."

Luciel gave a dissatisfied laugh. "I probably won't, but you sure as hell need to be honest with me right now."

"Two years," replied V, as bluntly as he could manage. "We were meeting once a week, and …" he decided not to dig up the graphic details. "I-it was two years."

"TWO YEARS!?"

"Yeah …" V sounded extremely resentful.

"So … are you … I mean … do you like men?" He never thought he'd need to ask V this question.

V rubbed his arm in a display of obvious discomfort. "No."

"You're not gay? Then … why? Just tell me so I can understand."

Taking a deep breath, V started to shiver a little. "I can't even begin to verbalise it. I can't-"

Luciel was furious. He just wanted a straightforward response and grabbed V by the collar of his shirt roughly. "What is there to verbalise, V? Just tell me why the fuck you felt inclined to sleep with Tom for two years, whilst married to Rika if you're not even gay!"

V flinched and looked up at Luciel who was now towering over him, seething. "I didn't … feel inclined to do it."

Luciel didn't like the hesitant tone he was using as he said this. "Explain to me clearly what you're talking about."

"I wasn't … exactly forced but …"

"Are you telling me he _raped_ you!?"

"NO!" V protested, to try and counteract Luciel's sudden outburst. He pushed the hacker's hands away and patted down his shirt. "No … I wouldn't say it was rape. It's just that … he had an agenda, and if I didn't agree to his conditions, Rika would-" He started to sob. "God, I wish it had never happened this way."

Luciel needed more answers. "I need to ask. Did you ever willingly engage in sexual activities with Tom? Anything that would have given him the impression you were interested in him in that way?"

V's stomach was churning with regret as he continued to sob, the bitter tears flowing into his whisky glass. "Y-yes."

"Wha-? But you said …"

"I was only really willing to do it the first time. We'd been out drinking together in the city. I hadn't seen him in more than ten years. We were talking about the old times in Busan and I don't know, we just had this … mutual attraction. One thing led to another and … you know how these things end up … it just happened. I didn't even really try to rationalise the situation at the time. It wasn't bad, the sex. I thought I'd be able to put it down to a drunken mistake and forget about the whole thing in the morning."

"You couldn't forget about him?"

"I could have done. Probably. It would have been easy to me to go back to Rika and pretend nothing ever happened." His gaze drifted towards his lap, as though by instinct. "But it was Tom who got hung up on me. He wanted my body. He craved me so much after that first night together that wouldn't let me go. Each time, we would meet for at least one hour and do whatever he wanted. I couldn't help the way my body reacted to his touching me. He was extremely skilled in seduction."

"I don't get it. If you didn't feel the same way about him, why would you keep going back for more?"

V "I did it for no other reason than to save Rika, and for the RFA."

Luciel sat down opposite V once again and handed him a tissue. "So then, you were technically _blackmailed_ by Tom?"

"I … guess so," stated V meekly, as he accepted the tissue with a grateful nod of the head. "I was given an ultimatum. Do what he asked, or Rika would be killed outright."

Although it was certainly an odd situation, Luciel seemed to understand. "Rika was sick. You would have done anything to make her better, and keep the organisation you started together running. Right? Isn't that a totally normal reaction?"

"I wanted Rika to get better. But ultimately her death was still my fault. I can't forgive myself for what happened to her."

"Why are you blaming yourself? You made a mistake and Tom used that to take advantage of you. That's all there is to it. _You_ did nothing wrong."

"Well, no. In exchange for the sexual favours, Tom paid all of her medical expenses for at least a year, after the insurance money stopped coming. She was making good progress with her recovery and Yoosung was so happy to see her smiling again, at least for that short time."

"Yeah, I remember talking to him on the phone after visiting her in hospital once. He seemed more hopeful about life," Luciel reminisced. "Isn't that a good thing? I mean, it's awful that you were being blackmailed, but despite that you still managed to make the people around you smile again."

"No. It wasn't a positive thing at all. I became too selfish. I saw how well everything was going on the outside but I felt sick, like this glossy medical drama couldn't possibly have a good ending. If Rika survived, Tom would have found new ways to break me. If she discovered our little secret, she wouldn't have been able to take it. I didn't want to lose her like that."

"And?"

"My body just felt so dirty, so damn tainted …" V hugged himself, as though he was trying to protect what little dignity he had left. "So one day I just decided to run away … so far away that I couldn't be traced by him. I moved around from country to country, keeping my trail as invisible as possible. Rika was left behind, just waiting for me to go and visit her. I knew Tom would be angry with me. I knew it wouldn't be long before he kept up his side of the deal, but I just wanted to be alone to contemplate what I'd done. I didn't want to be near the hospital; the smell, the nurses, the doctors, the prospect of bitter disappointment. Looking Rika in the eye after doing the things I'd done was just unthinkable. After just a few days of being out of contact with Tom, he cut off payments for the treatment and her health deteriorated quickly." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts again. "By the time I returned, she was already dead. He didn't have her killed right away like he threatened to, but this way was much worse – she suffered slowly and painfully. It was all my fault."

"V …" Luciel felt anger bubbling up inside him, but he bit his lip to try and contain himself. "You know Yoosung was extremely upset that you didn't attend her funeral. No, we all were. She was your wife, it wasn't normal that you weren't there."

V trembled viciously. "I-I …. How could I bring myself to face you all, with such a heavy shadow hanging over me? I had basically been selling myself to cover those hospital fees, and for what? To stand there, at the lectern, just feet away from where she lay, and make a speech about how much I missed her. My words would have been nothing more than a fabrication of sentiment. Such a bittersweet lie."

Luciel was torn between his feelings of empathy and hate towards V. It was tearing him apart. They had known one another for many years and had shared so much. Even after his long absence, this new side of V was different from usual. V had been the most trustworthy member of the RFA; everyone felt that they could approach him with their problems. His advice always rang true, no matter what the issue. V was like a father figure in so many ways, but now that image was beating down on Luciel like a thunderstorm.

The bathroom door finally clunked open and Eun-ji waded out with only a small white towel wrapped around her, drops of water falling from the strands of her hair onto the floorboards. She jumped backwards a little as she noticed the visitor sitting opposite Luciel in the kitchen and clutched her towel closer to her body instinctively. Luciel didn't look over at her, but just continued to stare blankly ahead, seemingly devoid of any emotion. It was an expression that Eun-ji knew all too well even in the short time they'd spent together. Something wasn't right.

"Saeyoung …" she tried. "Who is this man?"

Both V and Luciel turned around to see Eun-ji standing in the doorway half naked.

"Not the pizza delivery guy," said Luciel, stating the obvious. He found himself momentarily getting lost in the way the water was dripping down her bare legs temptingly, but then quickly averted his gaze. It was neither the time nor place to contemplate how sexy she looked like that. "Could you … uh … put something on please?"

Eun-ji reddened as the reality of the situation dawned on her. "Oh … " She bowed in V's direction apologetically. "I-I'm sorry, sir. Let me go and get changed."

With that, she darted into the bedroom and threw on some clean clothes. On the way out, the photograph of Rika with the turquoise-haired man on holiday caught her eye again. Even with his sunglasses on, he had the same shape face. It was clear he and the visitor were one and the same person.

She re-appeared in the kitchen and stood sheepishly in the doorway, fiddling with the sleeves of the top she was wearing. V looked up at her.

"Are those … my wife's clothes?" he said.

Eun-ji didn't know how to respond and she felt awkward all of a sudden being in the presence of someone else who knew Rika, much more intimately than the rest. "I … um." She tried to form the words, but got tongue-tied very quickly.

V let out a soft chuckle. "It's okay. I was just a little surprised to see someone else wearing them, that's all."

"I'm sorry. If it's too much, I can go and take them off," she suggested.

"Don't. They look much better on you anyway. When she wore them, they just seemed so fake and frivolous."

Luciel balked. "Really? You would say that about your own wife?" He looked angry. "Did you even care about Rika one iota?"

"Hey …" V began. "Of course … I cared about her."

"In what way? Because I'm having a hard time taking your side on this right now."

"I cared enough to try and take care of her medical expenses."

"Yeah, but you were too much of a coward to ask for our help? What about Jumin's assistance? Why couldn't you have just done that? I'm sure you wouldn't have had to pay it back. It was for Rika's sake after all. We all wanted her to get better."

"Jumin …" V began. "Why would I ask for his help?"

"Why _wouldn't_ you? He's one of your oldest friends."

"He told me … a long time ago, that if I went ahead and married Rika … he would never help me out financially, no matter what the situation. So we made a promise."

"What!? Why would he say something like that?"

"Jealousy …. Probably."

"But Jumin is …" Luciel wondered whether it was the best time to bring this up, but given everything else he'd just heard, he really couldn't care less. "Jumin is gay. It doesn't make sense that he'd be jealous of your relationship with Rika."

"…"

These moments of silence and hesitation really put Luciel on edge. "V. Don't make me dig for information here. Just tell me what you mean by that."

"I know Jumin is gay."

"How long have you known?"

"Quite a while."

"Specifically?"

"Ten years."

Luciel was shocked. "WHAT? Then why has he been keeping it a secret from us? It's not like it's a big deal if he likes men or women."

"Of course he would keep that information private. He's the Heir to a huge corporation. The last thing he needs is a scandal that could hinder his succession. His father would disown him and his fortune would be lost. If you're born into, you've got to nurture it."

"So why … would he be harbouring jealousy towards you?"

"Not towards me … towards Rika."

Luciel knew where this was heading, but he just needed to be sure. "You're saying that you … and Jumin-?"

V nodded glumly. Now he really felt like his life was over.

"I don't believe this! I thought you weren't into guys!"

"It was just once, but I was the one who urged him not to let people know about his sexuality. For me, it was just experimental, but for him … that experience was a confirmation of what he already knew. Jumin is such a calm man. It's difficult to tell what he's thinking, but I knew that every time he pretended not to be interested in what Rika and I were doing, inside his heart was probably crumbling little by little. I knew we couldn't be together, and in all honesty I wasn't interested in a long-term relationship with a man or Jumin, who I'd known for years. I wasn't gay. I'm not gay now, but sometimes I really question where my desires lie."

Luciel forced a laugh, breaking the tension a little. "It's not uncommon to be attracted to both men and women you know. Hell, even I can be attracted to men sometimes." That was the first time he'd said that to anyone.

Upon hearing this, Eun-ji nearly dropped her tea cup onto the floor, but managed to catch it with one hand. Her reflexes could be pretty snappy at times like these.

Noting the perplexed look plastered all over her face, Luciel sought to reassure her. "Ah, don't worry sweetie. I guess I never even thought to mention it, but you know, none of that even comes into the equation now that we're together." He walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck tenderly.

Smiling back at him, Eun-ji turned to face him and stroked his soft red hair. "Saeyoung. That information isn't important to me right now. Please … just sort this out with V. I can't stand the atmosphere in here."

V stood up. "She's right. We can't afford to leave anything unspoken from now on, Luciel. After all, I've got to protect you all. You're more like family to me than my own relatives. Please believe me when I say that I truly did love Rika, but I was just too weak to save her. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't regret how things ended for her. But the past is the past. We have to move forward. That's why I came back."

Luciel sighed and approached V, extending his hand though he looked hesitant to engage in a handshake.

"What's this?" said V, looking down in surprise at Luciel's hand.

"As a religious man, it's just part of my DNA to believe that every sin should be forgiven and that everyone deserves a second chance. Of course, I can't guarantee the others will feel the same way, but I have to trust that you will make up for being away for so long."

V took Luciel's hand and squeezed it firmly as a sign of his dedication. "Fine. I'll accept any punishment you want to throw at me. But know that I am truly sorry for everything and that my time away has given me a chance to reflect on what the RFA really stands for. You guys can stay here tonight. I've already arranged to stay at a hotel." He slid across the threshold and inched towards the front door. "We should all meet together, face-to-face, so I can explain things properly."

"Yeah. Let's do that." Luciel seemed satisfied with V's words. "You should explain things properly to Yoosung. He will have the hardest time accepting what you've told me."

V nodded slowly, saying nothing as he slipped on his sunglasses and left the apartment.

Eun-ji smiled awkwardly. She was still technically an outsider to the group, having accidentally wound up as a member of their organisation. She had grown close to Luciel and he had unwittingly been her inroad to the RFA. He was the only reason she ever woken up in Rika's apartment to begin with. Listening to their conversation and understanding how deep the blood ran scared her. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel intrigued by it.

She wanted to explore these wounds and make them hers too.


	32. Flip-side

Hello everyone. We're still nearing the conclusion, I promise. This chapter has a bit of a reveal that might make or break your personal impression of Eun-ji. However, remember that this is technically an AU, so it's not supposed to follow the story in any case. I wanted to add a twist to Ciphertext that celebrates everyone's uniqueness, no matter who they are. I'm all for that.

* * *

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 32:** **Flip-side**

The next morning, Luciel and Eun-ji woke up early, gathered the few possessions they had at Rika's apartment, and headed back across the city to Luciel's place. Now that V had returned, there was no reason for the two of them to be hanging around there. The place was just a little too cramped for three people. Luciel had no doubt that he probably had an awful lot of paperwork to catch up on. The pile of bills that had accumulated during his absence was frightening. Luciel was both surprised and relieved that the debt collectors hadn't come around while Eun-ji was stuck there. That would have been an awkward situation to explain.

On the way home, Luciel put on some music to make the time pass quicker. He rarely drove his Spyder with passengers in tow. It only just occurred to him that it was the first time he'd willingly let someone enter his car without saddling them with a long list of dos and don'ts. In Eun-ji's case, there were plenty of exceptions to be made. If anything he was just happy to be driving together with her, knowing she was safely beside him now.

The sunrise looked strangely beautiful on that morning, like a giant split egg yolk ascending upon the city. They meandered at a steady pace through the city streets with Enya's "Even in the Shadows" playing softly. It seemed like such a perfect accompaniment to the scenery that was surrounding them.

* * *

Even in the silence

I hear my heart

It's still a part of you

And even in the morning

When light has come

I don't know what to do

* * *

"This is a beautiful song," said Eun-ji, staring at Luciel as the sun cast itself over his face. "It's Enya, isn't it?"

Although his focus was on the road, he couldn't help but turn slightly to look back at her. He was surprised. "You know her music?"

She nodded. "I'd recognise that voice anywhere. She sounds just like an angel."

"As you know, I don't really speak much English. Honestly, I'm shocked I have never needed to use it for work. Still, I've memorised all the lyrics to the songs that I enjoy. This album usually helps me get to sleep when I'm alone, but I also listen to it when I want to calm myself down."

"So, are you trying to calm yourself down right now?" Eun-ji asked, cocking her head to one side cutely.

Luciel turned a little red and cracked the driver's side window open a notch to let some air filter through. "Well, not exactly but it is kind of exciting letting someone else into my car." He laughed a little. "Also maybe I'm just nervous about showing you my home."

Eun-ji giggled quietly. "Is it really that much of a mess?"

"Ah, no. I didn't mean from that point of view." She gave him an unconvinced look. He gave in. "Well, okay there may be a few empty Honey Buddha Chip packets lying around here and there, but it's more that there's a lot of embarrassing stuff around the place."

"Embarrassing stuff?" Eun-ji echoed. "Like what, porn magazines? That's totally normal."

"Eh? You're full of questions this morning, aren't you?" he replied, smirking as he thought about it. "You'll find out when we get there. It will probably mean nothing to you anyway. Don't expect too much."

She shook her head. "Oh? But I'm definitely interested to see whatever it is you're hiding. That's part of your charm after all – that ever-present sense of mystery." After everything she'd been through over the past few days, Eun-ji felt pretty confident in her ability to not freak out. Still, she was innately curious about what he classed as 'embarrassing stuff'.

Luciel wanted to clear one thing up. "Sorry to dash your hopes, but it's not a stash of dirty magazines." He stopped at a red light and turned to face Eun-ji. She appeared to be lost in thought.

"Hmm. Is that right?" Eun-ji sounded doubtful. "Well then I'm going to have to keep guessing until we get there." Not that it really mattered too much to her what his secret hobbies were, it was fun to taunt him a little since she was determined to figure it out before they arrived.

 _What kind of things would Saeyoung be embarrassed about keeping?_

Her intent gaze was fixed on him for so long, he knew she was just trying to scrutinise him for clarification without needing to ask any direct questions.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I REALLY don't have any porn!" he asserted, giving a brief simultaneous cough and laugh. "I know I've been involved in a lot of dangerous things for my job, but owning or distributing that stuff is illegal in this country. It's just not worth the risk."

Eun-ji believed him, but it was giving her pleasure watching him wonder what conclusions she was jumping to inside her own mind.

Luciel felt nervous and gripped the steering wheel a little harder as he focused his attention fully on the road. "Don't think about it too hard sweetie. You'll be wondering why you were ever curious when you find out what it is. It's just … how should I say … unconventional?" He paused for a moment. "Anyway, don't you have any embarrassing secrets of your own?"

She cast her gaze down and studied her feet that were resting on the pristine car mat beneath. The atmosphere grew tense. She could feel tears quickly welling up behind her eyes.

"Eun-ji? Are you alright?" It was clear that Luciel's question had unexpectedly touched a nerve. "Did I say something wrong?"

Clutching onto her skirt with both hands, her vision blurred and wet clustered splashes soaked through the material. She started to sniffle as the sudden onslaught of emotion caught up with her.

"Hey …" he sighed and tried again. "If you're still feeling guilty about anything, you don't have to. I thought we had moved on from that already."

"Th-that's not it …" Eun-ji tried, not wanting to involve him in her problems.

"I'm going to pull over so we can talk this through properly."

"N-no Saeyoung, it's okay. Keep driving." Eun-ji attempted to wipe her eyes but it felt as though the tears were beyond her control. "We can talk when we get to your place."

"We're still a good distance away. I'm pulling over." Luciel wasn't going to let this go.

Finding a safe place to stop, Luciel pulled the Porsche in the car park of a medium-sized supermarket and turned off the engine.

"I won't move off until I hear what's on your mind," he confirmed.

Eun-ji already felt a little better just knowing that Luciel cared enough to try and understand her feelings. But she was unsure what kind of approach to take. She couldn't just dismiss her secrets as being simply 'embarrassing' pieces of information. Truthfully, she had been meaning to talk to Luciel about it before, but the timing never seemed to be right.

She caught herself spacing out and jolted in her seat as she did.

"Eun-ji?"

"Y-yes." She brought her skirt up to her face and started to wipe away the tears that were clinging to the corners of her eyes. Luciel reached into the glove compartment, took out a pack of pocket tissues and extended them to her. "I'm sorry," she said, ruefully taking the pack from his hand.

"I'm pretty sure crying isn't a crime, so please stop apologising to me." Unbuckling his seatbelt, he shuffled a little towards the passenger seat and ran his fingers through Eun-ji's hair. He leant inwards so he could smell the shampoo she'd used that morning. It gave off a pleasant fruity aroma which he liked. "Look at me," he said.

She raised her head and stared longingly at his face, the glinting wet hazel pools reflecting his concerned expression back at him.

"Tell me what it is that's bothering you. After all, you know more than anyone else does about me. I want to help you Eun-ji. So please …"

It was going to be feeble to turn down his request. He knew something was wrong and she was doing a terrible job of hiding it from him. "There's a reason I haven't told you about my family or friends. I'm sure you've been wondering about them all this time."

 _Sure. It's just natural that I was curious about her life, but I was never going to force her to talk about it. I guess now might be the right time._

"Go on," he said, taking a small gulp to clear his throat. "Say as little or as much as you want to."

"Actually, the truth is …" began Eun-ji, her words slightly shaky. "My family and friends have nothing to do with me anymore. I don't really have a place to go back to."

"What!?" Luciel couldn't believe that anything she would do would warrant that kind of reaction from the people she cared about, or anyone for that matter.

Feeling nervous, Eun-ji broke eye contact with Luciel. "I-I haven't been entirely honest about who I am. There's something you should know about me."

Luciel felt his heart beating with anticipation. What kind of bombshell was she about to drop? Or would it be something so trivial that he wouldn't even bat an eyelid about it? He nodded for her to continue.

"I-I was born as a guy," Eun-ji began, rubbing her arm in an effort to comfort herself. "I underwent gender reassignment surgery as soon as I was able to. I took to it pretty fast and my body adapted at a faster rate than usual. My previous name was Ji-ho Moon." She paused and stared at Luciel, waiting for him to say something. Any response would do, but silence wasn't what she needed to hear. "I suppose you're repulsed? It's okay … I'm used to it."

"No," he said, a little too impulsively for her liking. "You're so beautiful just the way you are."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"I said you're beautiful, inside and outside."

Looking bashful, she looked away. "It doesn't even bother you one bit that I used to be a guy?"

"Why should it?"

"Well, I mean …"

"You heard what I said to V yesterday, right? As it happens I'm actually interested in both."

"But this is-"

Luciel put his hands on her shoulders. "It doesn't change anything for me. I just see someone I can connect with on a deep level, and I want to hold onto that. It's like you contain some kind of electrical charge that just keeps spurring me on."

"S-Saeyoung." Eun-ji reached out and took off his glasses, studying the depths of his golden eyes. They looked sincerer than ever. "You're such an interesting guy, but I'm lucky to have met you."

He laughed. "I'm seriously open-minded. So don't feel like you have to keep these things to yourself anymore, okay?" He beamed her a reassuring smile.

Eun-ji said nothing, but showed her gratitude through a single nod of the head.

"Let's go home."

"Then we can finally have pizza?"

"Heh. That's what I'm talking about!"

* * *

Actual pizza to follow


	33. Home Security

A/N: I'm just trying to see how long I can drag this pizza lust out for? How many of you are getting hungry by now? Also, note that the Arabic was Google Translated, so it makes very little sense but should mean "This is a security system designed to combat Vanderwood created by Agent 707. This is the password."

* * *

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 33: Home Security**

It was 8:15am by the time they arrived at Luciel's place, and the sun had already completely filled the sky. Slowly manoeuvring his Spyder into the underground car parking area, Luciel slipped his phone out of his pocket and threw it casually onto Eun-ji's lap. She jolted as she felt the impact of the phone making contact with her legs.

"You want to enter the password to get into the house?" he asked, giving her a coy smile.

"It's password protected?"

"Yup. I mean with a job as dangerous as mine, I've got to keep things super secure."

"I suppose so. What's the password?"

"Take a guess …" teased Luciel.

"Your … birthday?" Then, realising she was missing a vital piece of information. "Hey, when is your birthday anyway?"

Luciel hesitated. "Ah, it's um … October 15th" It had been so long since someone asked that he almost forgot what it was. Then there was the fact that he just didn't like to focus too hard on insignificant numbers and dates in the first place. "But no … do you really think I'd use my birthday as a password? I'm not taking those kinds of risks."

"No way!" yelled Eun-ji, accidentally squeezing his phone between her hands as she squealed with joy.

"Hmm?"

"We share the same birthday!"

"We do?"

"Yeah, what are the chances of that? Seriously!"

"Statistically speaking actually not that unlikely."

Eun-ji pretended to look upset by his stoic comment. "Oh? You could have just gone along with it!"

"So … we don't share the same birthday?"

"Mm-hmm. I was only kidding, but wouldn't that be great?"

Luciel looked a bit relieved and smiled back at her. "Would it? But then … we would be like twins!"

Then, realising something, Eun-ji posed a new question. "Saeyoung, don't you have any siblings?"

"Nope. I'm an only child. Well, no that's not true. Actually, I technically had an older sister but …" He paused.

"You _had_ a sister?" Eun-ji pondered this for a moment. "D-did she-?"

"She didn't die when she was a child or anything if that's what you're wondering."

It felt like she had touched a nerve. "Oh no, I wasn't insinuating-" Eun-ji said, waving her hands around to prove otherwise. Of course that had been the first thought that popped into her head.

Luciel let out a mildly frustrated huff. "It's fine. Everyone assumes that's the way things went when I leave my sentences unfinished like that." It was almost like he was fed up of having to tell the same story to so many different people.

"So … what happened to her?" Eun-ji was a little reluctant to ask, but she needed to know everything now that her own personal secret was out.

"My parents sold her."

Eun-ji couldn't believe what she was hearing. "WH-WHAT!? They SOLD her?"

"Yeah … to the sex industry. My father used to be a well-known politician for the Democratic Party – maybe you've heard of him, Woo-jin Choi. Eight years ago he was exposed by a journalist from the Seoul Times for having an affair with his political opponent – a female candidate, and then stealing money from his peers to fund the gifts he was buying her. After that, my parents became financially and emotionally unstable; they needed income but nobody would take my father on for work, not even at the local McDonalds. My mother became clinically depressed after my father arranged to have my sister, Su-bin, sent to work for a brothel for rich oil tycoons in the Middle East.

I know it sounds too ridiculous to be true, but this shit really happened. My parents were so consumed with selfishness and greed that they couldn't see beyond the materialistic. It was an awful time and I wanted more than anything to get away from that home. I wanted to earn money so I could set out and rescue her. She was my only sibling; I knew I'd do anything to keep her safe. So I learned a new skill by becoming a hacker, getting short-term experience here and there. V was the one who helped me to get my first job when I was only fifteen. I guess I should at least be grateful to him for that, putting aside his recent history."

Eun-ji covered her mouth in horror. Her chest felt heavy. "Oh my God, th-that's crazy! She was sent to a _brothel_ by her own parents? It's just like something from a TV drama. But I don't understand. How could that kind of thing even happen in this day and age?"

Luciel continued with his story. "I learned how to hack and got accepted to work on my first government contract and although I had tried to keep it a secret, my mother found out about it. She bitterly opposed my decision. She wanted to see me become a valuable member of society, someone who would take on a profession which reflected values of kindness and fairness. The condescending bitch!" Those last words pointed to the fact that he didn't think fondly of his mother at all.

"But you are such a kind guy, Saeyoung." Eun-ji asserted, taking his hand. "Deep down, you must know that. It doesn't matter what kind of work you do if you're already a nice person. Plus, you make a really decent salary, so it's a win-win situation isn't it?"

On the surface, Luciel smiled her reassuring words. Inside, however, he knew the opposite was true and he wasn't going to deny it. "All the good intentions and money in the world couldn't change what happened to Su-bin. No. You have no idea what I've been through to try and save her in the past. I even tried to hack into the Saudi government mainframe once. That backfired, even though I was so close to finding the information I needed to obtain her location. But it wasn't enough. _I_ didn't try hard enough. _I_ failed."

Eun-ji felt her heart sink. "Why would you blame yourself for trying?" She understood that his reasons for becoming a hacker were legitimate, even if they were fuelled by a personal sense of vengeance.

"It was hard for me to recognise the effort I had put in until recently. At the time, my skills were lacking precision and there were gaps in my knowledge, so there wasn't anything I could do." He let go of Eun-ji's hand and gripped the steering wheel tightly. "It was too early to make my move."

"Then why aren't you trying now? Surely your work must have afforded you the opportunity to access the information to infiltrate the brothel?"

Luciel stared directly ahead through the windscreen at the grey wall before them. "She … was murdered by one of the owners, two years ago. That's when I could finally give up on trying to reach her." His voice was a mildly broken stutter. "After all those years of torture."

"Saeyoung …" She said, unbuckling her seatbelt and wrapping her slender arms around his waist at a rather awkward angle. "Nothing I can say will take away the pain you've experienced. That much I know. But thank you for sharing this with me, because now I really understand that you deserve so, so much more than that."

Dredging up that feeling of bitter resentment was the last thing he had wanted to do in front of Eun-ji. He had never intended to bring up the past. But having her there comforted him somewhat. "I-I don't know how long I've been repressing those emotions but … but it feels so good to be able to get them out of my conscience." His eyes stung as he tried to hold back the tears. He pushed the bridge of his glasses further onto his face in an attempt to disguise it and clenched his teeth.

"Stop trying so hard to be a hero Saeyoung. I won't think you're weak if you start crying right now. When you cry, your tears will cleanse you on the inside. Think about it that way." Eun-ji looked down at her lap. "At least, that's what I told myself on all those sleepless nights. Crying … isn't weak."

Luciel let nothing more than a single tear fall down his cheek as he calmly embraced Eun-ji's shoulders, bringing her body in closer. "That's really sweet. I won't forget that."

"I can think of one thing that will help," said Eun-ji staring up at him with a hopeful expression, her eyes seemingly begging for something.

"Um … isn't it a little … early for that kind of thing?" Luciel's face suddenly flushed a light shade of red.

"It is NEVER too early for pizza!"

 _Heh. I should have known she was talking about the pizza! It's been on our minds for the past two days after all …_

Luciel brushed away the unsavoury ideas that had sprung into his mind. "M-my thoughts exactly! Come on, let's get in the house. Try and deactivate the security system. Listen carefully, this is my password. He took a deep breath.

* * *

هذا هو النظام الأمني لمكافحة Vanderwood صممه وكيل 707. هذا هو كلمة السر

* * *

His pronunciation seemed flawless but Eun-ji didn't understand these strange foreign words at all and responded with a confused expression.

"Wh-what language is _that_?"

"It's Arabic."

"I thought you only spoke Korean?"

"I don't speak English, but I had to learn Arabic when I was hacking the Saudi government's system. They speak English widely, but that didn't help me at all.

"So why did you set your home security password to Arabic?"

"It's supposed to be my Vanderwood deterrent system. No way the guy could repeat those words, and in my exact vocal tone."

" _Vanderwood_? Is that somebody you work with?"

"Well, yeah although as things stand right now, I "used to work with" him."

Eun-ji giggled. "Obviously you don't like him all that much."

"Aha. I guess I've never exactly hated the guy. He has done a lot for me in the past even under Tom's watchful eye."

"So why the extra layer of security?"

"Who knows? I just like to be petty sometimes."

"Honestly. What are we going to do with you?" said Eun-ji pouting cutely.

Luciel grinned back at her boyishly.

"Anyway, we're stalling. Let's get inside. Can't keep that pizza waiting any longer."


	34. Next Steps

**Ciphertext – Chapter 34: Next Steps**

* * *

As Luciel pushed down the door handle the front entrance of his house, a strong smell pervaded his nostrils. He winced as it coursed through his nasal passages. It was notably different and unfamiliar. Certainly not a bad smell, but rather a refreshing change to the way things usually were. In his hurry to get to Eun-ji, tidying his house had certainly not been his main priority. But as they walked in, he noticed that his shoes were now stacked carefully in rows near the door and all the clothes that had been strewn around were neatly folded up. The kitchen was spotless - sparkling even, and the place no longer reeked of leftover curry.

This made very little sense to Luciel. "What … the hell … is going-?"

The couple turned the corner to see someone sitting in the swivel chair by Luciel's desk. The person was facing the opposite direction and their brown hair draped loosely over the back of the head support. The collection of monitors that loomed above had all been switched off and they seemed to be relaxing whilst rocking the chair backwards and forwards contentedly.

It didn't take Luciel long to guess who the intruder was.

He coughed loudly. "Vanderwood!"

Eun-ji looked confused. "Vander … wood? You mean the one you set up the security system against?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Luciel approached the chair and spun it around briskly. "How the fuck did you get in?"

"I'm pleased to see you too, Luciel. Welcome back!" he said, sarcastically. "I manged to get in once before didn't I? So you really shouldn't be surprised."

"I only altered the algorithm remotely from Rika's apartment yesterday. I don't get how you'd be able to figure it out so fast!"

Vanderwood smiled, knowingly. "Well, you have obviously underestimated me and my fantastic Arabic abilities. Like I said to you before, I wasn't employed by the organisation for nothing."

Rather than feeling surprised by Vanderwood's actions, Luciel was more frustrated that the man had decided to invade his personal space for the umpteenth time. "You just don't know when to stop hacking into my shit do you? There are lines that I've redrawn again and again, and you should definitely should not be crossing them!"

Unfettered, Vanderwood felt the need to state the obvious. "You're saying that even after I tidied and cleaned the entire place for you? Did you really want to bring your new … or rather your first girlfriend back to a total mess? Not to mention that I put away all your … ahem … embarrassing items."

Luciel felt himself blushing despite the naturally rebellious rage that was welling up inside. "Y-YOU! Why would you do something like that?"

"Maybe I just wanted to do something nice, without you having to ask me?" Vanderwood let out a prolonged, slightly disturbing laugh that wouldn't have gone amiss if he was actively trying to portray a villain. "Now that we're free."

"But this isn't _you._ The Vanderwood I know doesn't just _be nice_ to me."

Vanderwood rolled his eyes. "Hey, there's no need to get angry! I mean, I get it … your collection of questionable figurines is precious to you, and well … some of those are _definitely_ not designed to be seen by a young lady."

"Not … designed to be seen by-? Gah! It's not like I ever asked you to come and play the role of house maid to begin with!" Luciel asserted.

"No. At least not in this universe you didn't." Vanderwood remarked casually.

Luciel narrowed his eyes. " _Not in this universe_?" He parroted. "What are you even trying to say? You're not making any sense right now. Are we suddenly in some kind of sci-fi movie?"

Vanderwood shrugged and brushed the last comment aside, not certain of what he had actually meant. The words had just slipped out. He looked over at Eun-ji, carefully studying her slender figure. He directed his next question at her. "I just can't help thinking … don't I know you from somewhere?"

Eun-ji bit her lip and fidgeted with the bottom of her top a little nervously. "Um …"

He continued. "This might sound weird but … you remind me of one of my family members." No sooner had he said this than he just laughed and waved his hands around in the air as if to dismiss the possibility completely. "Of course, that's a ridiculous thing to say since the person you remind me of is my cousin, who is a guy."

Eun-ji cast her eyes downwards, still tugging at her top as though trying to cover up something that wasn't even exposed. It was clear she felt uncomfortable with the comment.

Seeing this, Luciel stepped in. "Look, Vanderwood. I don't know what you're trying to prove here but-" By now, he understood exactly what this kind of facial expression meant. It was clear she was trying to hide something.

She shook her head defiantly. "No. We definitely don't know each other. You must be mistaken." Her answer was too quick to be believable, but she stuck with that strategy nevertheless.

Luciel scratched his temples, unsure of how he should be reacting in this situation. Knowing that Eun-ji used to be male made no difference to him and it wasn't any of Vanderwood's business. So he tried his best to support her. "Eun-ji is female. She is def-in-ite-ly female!"

Eun-ji shot Luciel a look of utter disdain.

 _Oops. I might have overdone the emphasis on that one!_

Vanderwood coughed as he checked her over once more. "Yeah, um … I can see that quite clearly. I promise I wasn't doubting that fact. I'm sure you know about that in more ways than one! I just can't shake the idea that she looks _exactly_ like the spitting image of Ji-ho."

"J-Ji … ho?" stammered Luciel, trying to subtly make eye contact with Eun-ji to get her input. "Are you sure … that is his name?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm sure of my own cousin's name. It's true that I haven't seen him in quite a few years, but I'd still recognise his face if I saw him."

"When was the last time?" Luciel was being purposefully inquisitive now.

Letting out a deep sigh, Vanderwood pondered this for a second before answering. "I don't know … maybe four years ago." He eyed Luciel suspiciously. "Why?"

"Ah! No reason. I'm just curious because you've never mentioned your family to me before." This development was more than a little unexpected, but he knew it was in his best interests to keep Eun-ji's secret to himself.

Vanderwood remained silent for a few seconds and just glared at Luciel, who, deep down felt like shitting a thousand bricks. He picked up his Starbucks coffee from the side and took a long sip of it before holding the cup between his legs.

"Well?" pressed Luciel. "It's just such a personal thing for you to bring up. So why bother saying anything now?"

Sighing, Vanderwood played with the white plastic lid. "Honestly, I neither needed or wanted to talk about my family whilst we were working under Tom's watchful eye. Even though it's true that he could have accessed any information he wanted, handing the details over to him on a plate would have just been too risky. Anyway, as far as he was concerned I was _so_ loyal to him. Why would he ever doubt my integrity?" A natural smirk spread across his face and he gulped down the last few drops of his coffee before setting the cup back onto the desk.

"What do you mean 'as far as he was concerned'? You were nothing if not loyal to him – almost like a dog barking at every order he gave you." The number of times Vanderwood had dismissed Luciel's requests because of something Tom had put in place was uncountable. "It made me sick the way you two were so inseparable!"

Vanderwood laughed. "You must be joking? You're making it sound like we were a married couple! Hell no, that whole thing was just an act. Of course I knew better than to actually cater _Mr. P's_ every whim and fancy. I'm glad the guy is no longer with us. He was about to put the entire country in jeopardy – the lives of millions of people. I would never forgive myself if I'd played a part in his scheme. The moment I found out about it, I knew we needed to upset the system. Things had to change." He stood up and walked over to Luciel with his arms folded, seemingly justified.

"So … you were planning to do something about it?"

"Yeah, actually I was. But in order to see it through to the end, everything needed to be one hundred percent clean. I couldn't afford to leave any traces of my activities behind. That meant not talking with you about it either. And trust me, I wanted to. You would have been my greatest ally in getting the guy detained. But unfortunately, Tom's experiments were getting out of hand quicker than I could deflect the results. More and more of those students were being roped into his hideout and force-fed that awful blue poison day in and day out. I felt exhausted keeping things under wraps."

Luciel's heart sank. "Vanderwood. Exactly how long had you known about all of this?"

"Far too long." There was a tinge of regret in his voice. "I shouldn't have waited until it was too late."

"No. It wasn't too late," Luciel tried. "We stopped Tom before he could gain complete control of the situation. Don't blame yourself for trying to be the better guy. We were both being used by him, that's all there is to it. There's no point in dwelling on what we could have achieved. It's all over now, but then again … so are our jobs."

"Heh. But think about it. Besides the pay, we had no job security whatsoever. You've got to reflect on the kind of lifestyle we've had over the past few years. We were bribed little by little and ended up with too much money but not enough time to enjoy it. I mean, really, who wants to keep living a life like that?"

"What are you going to do for work?"

"My brother is in charge of the family business, so he's offered me a job there. It's just a mid-size Korean BBQ place in the centre of Gangnam, but the fried chicken is superb and customers love it. I kept insisting that he shouldn't take the risk by employing an ex-agent like me, but he says he doesn't care." Vanderwood smiled as he reminisced. It looked so natural and unforced that Luciel found it strange to encounter. "He's a good guy after all. It just reminds me that these are the times when family counts the most."

Exhaling deeply, Luciel contemplated his enviable situation. "I only wish I could say the same." He had been so focused on the events that had unravelled over the past few days, that he hadn't even considered what his next move would be. He was lucky he could afford to take a little time to think things through.

Eun-ji took Luciel's hand, sensing the mild melancholy that had started to creep up inside him again. "Hey, Saeyoung. Why don't we try and think of a plan? Just relax, brainstorm and have a discussion over some pizza?"

"Oh? Do you guys want to have some pizza with me?" Vanderwood responded. "I ordered some around thirty minutes ago. It should be here soon."

"Sure. That would be great. Thanks!" responded Eun-ji, cheerfully.

Luciel didn't seem so enthusiastic about eating pizza anymore, but felt obligated to go along with Eun-ji's attempt to liven up the atmosphere a bit. "Yeah … okay."

Vanderwood clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Tch! Come on, Luciel … why're you looking so downbeat when you've got such a beautiful woman standing right next to you?"

 _This guy … he doesn't even know that he really is talking about his cousin Ji-ho! It's laughable. It really is._

Luciel let out a small chuckle as he revelled in keeping her true identity a secret. "It's true. I'm really lucky to have met Eun-ji … properly, face-to-face. It's just so … bizarre how everything worked out and despite the obstacles we've faced recently, there's no-one I'd rather be with."

"You do know that Tom was instrumental in your meeting through the RFA?" asked Vanderwood, assuming that this was already common knowledge.

"Wh-what? You mean …"

"He had someone drug her and take her to Rika's apartment. Apparently, he had spent a long time watching you, even outside of work. He was monitoring your every move and knew where you were twenty-four-seven. If you think you had any moments to yourself, you'd be mistaken. Your meeting Eun-ji was no accident. It wasn't fate, or destiny or anything like that. It was all completely pre-meditated."

Luciel narrowed his eyes. "So?" he began. "Even if that's the case, I still feel the same way. If he was watching closely enough, then I'm sure Tom would have understood that my watching Eun-ji endlessly at Starbucks was not flippant. So he used her as bait? Well, I could have guessed as much. Deep down I knew a fateful meeting was just too good to be true."

Eun-ji took Luciel's arm and squeezed it tightly. "I see … but if anything, Tom's unsavoury intentions have only made our connection stronger. I mean, to be honest I don't know if I would have had the courage to approach Saeyoung on my own. I guess … knowing that … makes me feel complicated, like I'm almost thanking the enemy for what we're managing to build together right now. But it's true. I'm more than grateful that it's turned out this way." She looked up at Luciel, hoping that this was all reaching him.

He squeezed her arm back and simply smiled. "Don't worry, we can figure out the next steps. I don't know what kind of work I can realistically do, considering my employment record. But I'll find something that suits me, something I can relax with, something that can push us forward."


	35. Pizza (finally)

**Ciphertext – Chapter 35: Pizza (finally)**

Luciel, Eun-ji and Vanderwood had perched themselves on the huge beanbags that adorned the hacker's living room. The pizza delivery had made its way to them and they were busy tucking into their well-deserved meal. It was only ten in the morning, but even so it was a welcome treat.

"Mmm. Ham and pineapple is my all-time favourite topping!" declared Eun-ji, savouring one of the thinner slices and letting some of the stringy mozzarella wrap around her tongue. "I've liked it ever since I was a child and I'm not even sure why. I don't eat pineapple at any other time, but when it's on top of a pizza and combined with ham, it's just so tasty!" She took a few more bites and continued her story through muffled mouthfuls. "My parents used to have a takeaway night once every two weeks. Normally they were super health-conscious, but since my father insisted that my mother take some time off from cooking, we decided to have regular pizza nights." She sighed and chewed simultaneously. "Ah, I really miss those days."

Vanderwood picked up a slice of his veggie pizza and checked the consistency of the base carefully. "This local pizza place really knows how to cook the dough to perfection." He took his first bite before changing the subject not-so-expertly. "Tell me Eun-ji. When was the last time you enjoyed one of those pizza nights with your family?"

"I um-" She was finding it difficult to have a natural conversation with this man, who was in fact her cousin on her mother's side. It wasn't that she was especially intent on keeping her true identity a secret from Vanderwood, but as things stood, he was only observing _some_ resemblance between the way she was now and her past self. There wasn't enough evidence on his side to prove anything one way or another - only pure speculation and a vague air of familiarity.

Something caused Vanderwood to chuckle and he practically choked on a mushroom. "Hey, why are you so embarrassed to say what's on your mind?" He shifted a little closer towards Eun-ji and tried to follow her eye line, glaring intently at her.

Eun-ji put the ham and pineapple pizza slice back down into the cardboard box and tilted her head forwards slightly so her bangs covered most of her face. "I'm not … ashamed of anything … it's just that-"

"Hmm … well, that's not exactly what I was referring to." Then, Vanderwood nodded, as though he had gleaned some extra valuable knowledge that no-one else could possibly understand. "Oh-ho … I get it. Are you … maybe … attracted to me?"

"WHAT!?" Eun-ji blurted out, more forcefully than she had hoped. "What are you talking about?" she said, in a much softer tone.

"Huh? Am I wrong?" He grinned. "I could have sworn I caught you blushing earlier."

"I'm just a bit flustered, you know. I-I'm getting used to this whole 'normality' thing again."

"It's because you're in the presence of such a tragically handsome individual, right?" He swept his hair back and arranged it into a ponytail before tying the locks up in a bun. Some of the loose strands fell down around his face. Now he looked even more ridiculous. Zen would have been mortified.

Eun-ji blushed at the horror of it all. That pose, combined with his terribly retro fashion sense just made no sense to her whatsoever. "Um, n-no. That's not-"

"I can tell you now, that's really not what she meant." Luciel interrupted, determined to steer Vanderwood off the topic. "Will you please just cut this out already. Anyway, why are you even asking her these things?"

"I'm serious, look at how shy she's been acting since you arrived here!" Vanderwood gestured towards her. "I know for a fact what she's like when she's alone with you – _so_ much more than just a smitten kitten! It's like she's on fire!"

"Argh … Honestly, just give it a rest man!" It hurt Luciel's mind to think that Vanderwood may have stumbled across the dirty footage of them from Rika's apartment. "Don't you think the reason she's acting like that is because you're prying into her private life too much?"

"Is that what you think I'm doing? No, I just want to get to know this beautiful create, Eun-ji Moon. Maybe it's because she's your girlfriend. It kind of makes me want to steal her from you," he joked.

Eun-ji felt her stomach turn at the mention of how beautiful she was. Vanderwood was still so blissfully unaware of the truth. She had long killed off the side of her that was Ji-ho in an attempt to distance herself from that life and the people that existed within it. Although she'd had many good memories, the emotional wounds from before the operation had remained firmly open.

She was happy with the new person she'd become, but it was times like these when the past just kept creeping up on her and she felt utterly powerless to let go. It would take some time until she was ready to face her demons head-on. But for now, she had Luciel.

Sensing the hesitation in her movements, Luciel looked Vanderwood directly in the eyes. "Yeah, well. Just consider how those comments might be making her feel, especially after everything she's been subjected to these past few days. The experience was completely out of the ordinary. So I'm asking you to be more considerate."

Vanderwood crossed his legs and sat there in silence, pouting a little. "You know what Luciel? Right now, you're not half as crazy and fun as you used to be. I've noticed that your humour radar is starting to malfunction … and pretty quickly too."

"Hmm?" Luciel's ears pricked up at this comment. "Are you saying that you actually preferred that version of me?"

He considered the reason he had brought it up. "I wouldn't exactly say 'preferred' but there's just something about this new persona. I'm not sure what to think about it. It's like you're not Agent 707 anymore. You're just-"

"Saeyoung Choi?" He said. "Whatever it is you want to call me, it doesn't change who I am. This is me, it's who I've always been. As far as I'm concerned, 707 never truly existed. He was really nothing more than a defence mechanism that I created so I could face this cruel world with a little more courage. Sure, there's still a part of me that loves that character, but that's all he was – a character."

"I disagree," Eun-ji piped up, finishing off a small mouthful of pizza. "You'll never completely lose that side of your personality no matter how hard you try to push it down." She reached out and took off his glasses, placing them onto her own face cutely. "Anyway, I don't think it's fair to completely shut him out, do you?"

Luciel wanted to be sure that she wasn't just saying what he wanted to hear. "Eun-ji … would _you_ be okay with that? I mean, right now I don't feel like he is even a necessary part of my existence. Too many people got the wrong idea about me when I was acting out 707's strange, happy-go-lucky fantasy."

Eun-ji smiled and chewed enthusiastically on her pizza slice. "Well, I didn't get the wrong idea about you, did I?" She cocked her head to one side and let out a small laugh.

Unable to maintain his frown, Luciel's expression softened and he parroted her comforting laugh. "I don't think you did …. at least _you_ hope not, huh?"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang but instead of alerting them with a simple chime, it played an 8-bit gaming tune. The three of them stared blankly at the entrance without saying a word.

Luciel walked over to the intercom and pressed the button to see who was visiting him this time of day. He smiled as Yoosung put his face right up to the camera, the convex lens warping his features into a strange alien-like pattern. It looked as though he was holding some sort of food storage container in his hands.

"Seven, are you in?" said Yoosung, cautious as a cat.

Luciel pushed the 'talk' button. "Yoosung! Yeah, I'm here."

"Ah! I'm so glad to hear your voice! I heard what happened from Jumin, I've been so worried about you guys!"

"Aha. Well, you don't need to worry. We're doing just fine." Luciel finally felt calm talking about it.

"Cool. Um. So, are you gonna let me in or what? You know I don't speak Arabic!" said Yoosung, pouting.

"Sure. I'll be right there."


	36. Gathering

**Ciphertext – Chapter 36: Gathering**

Yoosung entered Luciel's house, stepping a little cautiously at first. It had been too long since he was last here and everything seemed so fresh and new. He clutched the plastic container in his hands and Luciel stared at it.

"Is that for me?"

Breaking out of his daze, Yoosung smiled. "Yup. I figured you could do with something nutritious to eat! I've been trying to get more protein in my diet recently, so I thought-"

Luciel extended his arms to take the container and Yoosung passed it over.

"There's a _lot_ of omelette in here!" Luciel seemed impressed by the size of it.

"Yeah, I know. I uh … kinda went overboard with the number of eggs."

"It looks delicious. I'll share it with Eun-ji later."

Yoosung suddenly looked bashful. "Um … speaking of Eun-ji … where is she?"

Luciel motioned towards the living room. "In here, with Vanderwood."

"Eh? Your manager is here?"

"Well, he's not exactly my manager anymore. We're in the same boat at this point in time, but at least he's got a new job to go to."

"New … job? Wait, am I totally missing something here!?"

"The big boss, Tom Park … we had to get rid of him."

"Get rid of-? Y-y-you mean you ... killed someone?" Yoosung's complexion paled noticeably. "Jumin didn't mention that part to me!"

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not secretly an assassin or anything. It was all in self-defence _… self-defence_ … okay?" he clocked the pained expression in Yoosung's eyes. "You do believe me, don't you?"

Yoosung hesitated slightly before letting out a deep sigh. "What choice do I have?" His smile softened. "I mean, to begin with it's not like I ever knew much about your work as a hacker, but I sure as hell don't buy the idea of _you_ intentionally murdering someone." He laughed. "That's not something that the Seven I know would do."

"Thanks for saying that Yoosung, and of course you're right. I wouldn't ever dream of physically harming someone on purpose."

"Good," he gave a meek laugh. "Well, onto a different subject … are you gonna introduce me to her or not?" He was abnormally quick to alter his mood.

Luciel lead him into the other room. "Sure, come with me."

Yoosung followed gingerly behind.

"Eun-ji, this is Yoosung. He brought us this huge omelette," said Luciel lifting up the container for her to see. "Check it out."

"Ah! That looks delicious, I love a good omelette." She smiled. "Anyway, it's so great to finally meet you in person. It's just not the same as talking on the phone or the messenger, right?"

Yoosung stopped a few paces behind Luciel. His body felt heavy all of a sudden, as though he was frozen solid and unable to move an inch. He cast his eyes over Eun-ji's slender figure, feeling himself getting caught up in her feminine presence. The way her long brown hair fondled her cheeks and the clothes she was wearing, he wouldn't have expected any of it.

He let out an unintentional whimper. "S-so pretty …" he murmured, quietly under his breath. His eyes were now transfixed on her.

Eun-ji cocked her head to the side as she so often did. "Hmm? Did you say something Yoosung?"

"U-uh, n-n-no! I mean, it's um … nice to meet you too."

Vanderwood chuckled, ripping a fresh slice of pizza between his teeth. "Oh man, is this kid nervous or what?"

Yoosung threw Vanderwood a biting glare and puffed up his cheeks in frustration. "Hey! I'll have you know I'm _not_ a kid! I'm a fully-grown adult! I can cook my own meals, wash myself and everything."

"Alright fine, whatever. You're _only just_ an adult. But you're obviously a virgin," Vanderwood remarked slyly. "If you're trying to hide it you might not want to look so desperate."

It seemed like Yoosung might explode at any minute. "Seven! Will you please shut this guy up?"

Luciel narrowed his eyes at the hazel-haired man. "Can't you just give the comments a rest, Vanderwood?"

Yoosung pouted. "Hmph! I mean look at him, munching away on his ham and pineapple pizza. Who orders pineapple on pizza anyway!? That's such a vomit-inducing combination!"

"Is that your feeble attempt to try and offend me? Well, I'm used to much harsher words than those, little boy. In any case, this pizza isn't actually mine. I'm just borrowing a slice from Eun-ji." Vanderwood ruffled up his hair, confident that he was more of a man than this bleach-haired child would ever be.

Yoosung looked over at Eun-ji, still sitting there with her legs crossed so alluringly. She was now making direct eye contact with him. He felt his stomach turn with panic. "Uh … what I mean I … adding pineapple to pizza isn't really a serious crime or anything, it's just that I've never really … um … tried it, so I wouldn't kn-"

"Well, there's a first time for everything," said Eun-ji.

"A f-first time for-?"

"This." She held out a slice of her ham and pineapple pizza. "I already took a bite out of it, but if you don't mind, please try some." She was insistent.

Yoosung extended his hand to take the pizza, his nerves getting the better of h. "Um … Seven is this … okay?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean … can I take this pizza?"

"What are you talking about? Of course you can have it. Why would you need my permission?"

"B-but eating this would be like …"

"Yoosung, you're not making any sense." Luciel was clueless as to what could possibly be running through his innocent mind.

Vanderwood smirked. "… it would be like an _indirect kiss_?"

He guessed by Yoosung's expression that he had hit the nail on the head.

"Seriously? You really must be stuck in elementary school mode!"

"No!" Yoosung tried to defend himself. "Look, I'm going to eat it and I don't care!" He shoved the slice of pizza into his mouth all at once, taking his time to chew and swallow the thing.

Everyone watched as he devoured it completely.

"Well? How was it?" asked Eun-ji, curious to see whether he had enjoyed the taste.

Yoosung blushed. "It was delicious."

Cupping his hand around Yoosung's left ear, Luciel decided to taunt him a little "The real thing is even more delicious …" he whispered.

"T-the real thing?"

"I mean direct kissing," he winked, suggestively. "But of course there's _so_ much more to it than just that."

As Yoosung felt his body temperature rise, blood started to seep out of his nose.

Eun-ji stood up. "Oh, Yoosung! Your nose is bleeding. Let me go and get you a tissue."

He hurried to try and plug up his nostrils with his hands. "Uh, no. It-it's okay Eun-ji, I'll be fine! thanks!"

"But … there's so much of it."

Luciel tried hard not to laugh, but struggled to contain himself. "I wonder why?" he noted, sarcastically. "Someone is really pent-up! I didn't even go into the details and you got turned on by the mere thought of it?"

"Seven! Please don't embarrass me anymore!" He shut his eyes tightly and threw a small tantrum.

But the laughter was unrelenting. "Sorry Yoosung, you know me … I couldn't resist. You're just too easy to read!"

Vanderwood felt justified. "Luciel, you were trying to stop me teasing him earlier and now you're doing it too?"

"I've known him longer, so that automatically gives me permission to mess with him." Luciel winked and sported a cunning grin. "What do you think Eun-ji?"

Eun-ji adopted a more sinister tone. "Yeah, you should definitely mess with his poor, fragile virgin mind … is what you'd like me to say." Then, she smiled at Yoosung. "But to tell you the truth, I'm twenty-two and I was a virgin until recently, so I understand where you're coming from. Why should there be any pressure?"

Vanderwood tried to hide his amusement. "Heh, I can already tell where he's _coming_ from …"

"Hmph! You guys are really not cool! But Eun-ji … thank you. I'm glad you're on my side at least."

Eun-ji pointed at herself. "Me? On your side?" she laughed. "No silly, I'm going to tease you about it as well! Get a girlfriend, finally have sex, do lots of crazy, dirty things together and then film it so we can all watch it on that projector over there. I'll be responsible for the popcorn."

Hearing this, Luciel felt like his heart was about to burst with happiness. She was ridiculous. "This is a big part of why I love you Eun-ji. And Yoosung, you better make that porno!" Actually, he hoped he wouldn't.

Yoosung felt somewhat violated, but knowing they were only joking he calmed down a little. "Guys … be realistic. A homemade porno? I don't think you'd want to watch me acting in that. Plus, I wouldn't want to risk a run-in with the police for producing that kind of thing. On top of that, my mom would never forgive me for spending my savings on ultra-zoom camera lens and sex toys. Um … not that I know about any decent ones to begin with so … forget I ever said anything." He was sweating profusely. Clearly, he was lying about having no knowledge about sex toys.

" _Ultra … zoom_? Dude, I hate to say it, but you put way too much detail into that," said Luciel, a little impressed by Yoosung's response. "but we're liking all these _little_ clues you're giving us."

Trying to ignore Luciel's insinuation, Yoosung continued. "A-anyway, I'm saving myself for someone special, because obviously I'm a gentleman." He looked especially proud of that fact.

"You mean a 'gentleman' … like Zen?" asked Luciel.

That flipped a little switch of jealousy inside him. "Zen is a narcissistic, overblown, petty, flirtatious, pompous, narcissistic-"

"You already said 'narcissistic' Yoosung."

"-narcissistic ass … but he's a good guy and he cares about the welfare of others, so-"

Luciel's phone rang. "Speak of the devil!" he said, swiping to answer it. "Hey! How's Yoosung's favourite narcissistic ass?"

" _Um … that's how you're going to greet me?_ " came Zen's response.

Luciel "Ahaha. Yeah, ignore me. I'm just playing with ya."

" _Anyway … ARE YOU AND EUN-JI OKAY!? JUMIN TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED!"_

"Yup. We're fine and back at home now. Vanderwood and Yoosung are here with us. Why don't you come over?"

" _Hmm. What about Eun-ji?_ "

"What about her?"

" _What happened between us was-_ "

"A mistake? I know already dude! Like I said, I'm cool with it and she's cool with it. If you're letting it bother you now, it really shouldn't."

" _Well, I'd still be holding a grudge if I were you._ " He paused. " _Anyway I realise I haven't said it directly yet, but … Seven, I'm just really sorry, you know … that I couldn't control myself better when I with her. I don't know what came over me. I feel like such a fucking hypocrite!_ "

"Dude, it takes two to do the funky chicken," Luciel replied in a light-hearted tone, understanding that both he and Eun-ji were to blame in equal measure.

" _No, it doesn't!_ " Zen, said in all seriousness, " _it doesn't seem right to trivialise something like that!"_

"Okay, that was a bad analogy, but let's just say Eun-ji and I share a much deeper connection now. In a strange way, it was largely thanks to you." He stopped to scratch his head, thinking of what to say next. "Listen, whatever excuses are running through your mind right now, just come over and join us."

Zen sighed, knowing there was no way out but to appease his friend. " _Alright. I'm wiping the sweat off my freshly toned abs at the gym right now, so let me finish up, take a shower and I'll be there._ "

"Ooh … stop taunting me, that sounds so sexy! Can I have a feel when you get here?"

" _Dude, please don't. That's seriously creepy coming from you …_ "

"Haha. Sorry, sorry. I was just imagining what it's like to be your female fan and to hear you say that. I should have recorded it and forwarded it on to Jaehee as a gift. Or maybe I should dress up in a maid costume for you, since you have such a !"

" _Ugh. How embarrassing …_ "

"Oh, I think you mean 'how thoughtful'. But embarrassing Seven Zero Seven has always been my trademark. I just need to remember that."

Zen laughed. " _I'm just glad it sounds like you've returned to normal again. You're back to being the joker you used to be before any of this even happened._ _Be yourself, and don't let anybody hack into that crazy personality of yours again!_ "

"Sure thing, bro! See you soon. Ciao ciao!"

" _Um … yeah … ciao?_ "


	37. Dirty Laundry

Hi all - apologies for the long delay (well, to me it feels like I long time). I'm keen to finish this story but I don't want to rush it. Maybe I'm drawing it out a lot, but I hope it will have an ending that does it justice.

 **Ciphertext – Chapter 37: Dirty Laundry**

Zen turned up exactly half an hour later, sporting a tight-fitting shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. His skin looked bright and radiant as ever, clearly as a result of the exercise he'd just done. He seemed to shimmer effortlessly as he stood under the light in the entrance.

Luciel offered him the slice of pizza he was holding. "Want some?" Zen shook his head to decline.

"No thanks. I wouldn't want to ruin all the hard work I've just put in."

"Aww, come on. It's just a slice of pizza. It's not like it's going to damage your waistline. Anyway, you've got to eat something to replenish your energy after a workout, right?"

"Honestly it's fine. I had a protein shake a couple of hours ago. Trust me, that'll keep me going. Pizza won't exactly help." Zen looked content with that.

Luciel raised an eyebrow at him. "Eh? But your metabolism is totally ridiculous. I mean, look at how slim you are, and yet so…" He stretched out his arm and lightly traced the contours of Zen's ripped abs through his shirt, "…muscular."

Grimacing a little, Zen stepped backwards at his touch. "Ugh. Seriously dude, I'm really glad you're back to acting like the Seven I've always known. But _please_ don't tease me all afternoon!"

"Hmm? Well, that depends."

"On what?" Zen was growing uneasy.

Luciel led his friend into the living room. Vanderwood, Yoosung and Eun-ji looked up as the two of them entered. But before anyone had a chance to open their mouths to greet the actor, Luciel delivered a line which sounded like a parent cautioning a child. "Can you promise me you'll be a good boy, Zenny?"

Zen felt flustered all of a sudden. He thought everything was resolved between them now. "W-what do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Mr. Wolf!" Luciel winked conspicuously.

That didn't explain the playful tone in his voice. "Uhm … I thought everything was fi-"

Luciel looked over his shoulder mock disapprovingly. "No chasing after my maid. Got it?"

Feeling his muscles start to relax again, Zen let out a small laugh. "Dude, you already know there's no guarantee that won't happen. Your maid _is_ such a babe after all! That delightful red hair and those sexy eyes!" he joked, nudging Luciel in the side. "So, come on. Where is she? Or is it her day off?"

"You're really serious about that? Looks like I'll just have to keep you on a leash in the corner of the room, so you can bark all you like but not bite!" Luciel's eyes suddenly had a strange, wild fire roaring in them, but he was smirking at the same time, which signalled that he was in on the joke.

Zen tried to shake off the mildly perverse mental image that had suddenly popped into his head. "Huh? But your maid isn't real. I mean, that was just you in drag. So, why would you need to keep me away from her?"

Eun-ji looked down at her feet. "I think he's talking about me… probably."

"Uhm. Sorry, am I missing something here? Are you telling me that Eun-ji is your maid!?" Yoosung interjected whilst munching on a pineapple chunk.

Vanderwood sighed and turned to face Yoosung. "No, that can't be true because, I suppose I'll confess it now, I'm his maid." He paused, waiting for some kind of comeback or joke, but there was none. "Judging by body language and what Luciel just said, I can only hazard a guess and say that something happened between him … and her," he noted, pointing at Zen and Eun-ji in turn.

Zen clenched his fists by his sides and Eun-ji gripped at her skirt nervously.

"Bingo!" declared Vanderwood, making a peace sign with his fingers. "I knew it!"

His pulse racing with frustration, Luciel gritted his teeth. "Seriously, you can be so fucking annoying sometimes!"

"Seven. Can't we just leave this conversation for another time? We don't need to talk about it right now." Zen could feel the beads of sweat starting to trickle down his temples. This was the first time he had seen Eun-ji since the incident, and the tension hadn't subsided in the slightest, although he was trying his best not to let it show.

Luciel ignored Zen's concern and instead shifted his attention to Vanderwood, squaring up to him a little defensively. "Listen. I don't give a shit about your secret agent abilities right now. There are times when you just don't reveal your inside knowledge. This is one of those times!"

"All I'm doing is stating the elephant in the room, Luciel. Don't hate me for trying to clear away the cobwebs. After all, that's what maids do best!"

"I'm really not laughing at your joke right now Vanderwood."

Vanderwood remained silent, not wishing to engage in battle of wits.

"Well?"

Still nothing.

"Don't you have some explaining to do? You're not some prolific mind-reader, so how the hell did you know where Eun-ji was?"

"You were the one who asked me to track her phone."

Eun-ji shot Luciel a look of contempt. "What!?"

Now he'd really gone and done it. "Don't take it the wrong way. I only wanted to make sure you were safe."

"So you were keeping tabs on me, to see what I'd do?"

This wasn't how Luciel wanted their downtime to end. "No Eun-ji, that's not it! Like I said … I was concerned about your safety. I'm sorry if it feels like I didn't trust you. I did, but I just-"

"But if you were tracking me, you knew exactly where I was the entire time. That I was at Zen's place and when I was kidnapped. Why didn't you come and find me sooner?"

"Believe me, I had no idea where you'd gone. I was worried sick." He turned to Vanderwood again. "Because _someone_ told me that the tracking signal had been blocked!"

Vanderwood sighed. "I was trying to protect you."

"You're such a bullshitter. I don't understand why you wouldn't tell me you'd managed to disable the firewall?"

"Because that's not the case. I was able to track her the entire time."

"What!? You should have said so in the first place!"

"I needed to use it to locate Tom. She was the only lead I had."

This pissed Luciel off big time. "So you used Eun-ji, knowing fully well that she would be captured and then you followed the signal for your own benefit? Why the fuck did you just sit back and watch from a distance? I was counting on you to find her."

"Hey. You should be grateful, I saved you."

"How exactly did _you_ save us? I only knew where Eun-ji was because Tom lured me into his lair. He would have killed us both if Jumin hadn't got the government involved. Those American soldiers ended up being on our side too. But Vanderwood … you had information that could have saved us a hell of a lot of trouble."

Vanderwood was growing equally frustrated now. "What good would it have done? You would have wound up in the same situation, or you might have gone straight to Zen's place and-"

"Yeah. I could have prevented all of that from happening if you'd have just thought to fucking let me know!"

"You're holding onto all this with such resentment, Luciel. Just forget about it. You're both safe now. I thought you were back to your usual light-hearted self."

Zen stepped in and put a hand on Luciel's shoulder. "Dude..." He crouched down a little to try and follow the hacker's gaze. "Did you invite me here just to taunt me or what?"

Luciel was silent, his face expressionless.

"Look. I've apologised to you all I can. What else can I do?" He thought about this for a second. "I don't believe I'm saying this, but … would it make you feel better if you hit me?"

Luciel looked at him like he was a complete idiot. "Zen …"

Yoosung felt so out of the loop. He blinked a few times as he ran through everything he'd just heard. "Zen's telling Seven to punch him!? I'm definitely missing something. What the hell is going on? Will someone please tell me!"

"Come on man. Take a swipe at me if you want to get this off your chest once and for all. Go on!"

Eun-ji felt awful. "Zen! What are you saying? Don't demean yourself for my sake. Please!"

"I feel like this is all I can do to make him realise how serious I am about keeping our friendship. I thought I'd explained everything. Now, maybe it's time to finally fight it out man-to-man."

"But your face is precious to you, isn't it? And it's precious to your fans," said Eun-ji, trying to find another way to reason with him.

Vanderwood started clapping slowly to try and encourage the fight. "Go, go, go Luciel!"

"Ugh. Shut up Vanderwood! I'm not going to punch him!"

Zen rolled up his sleeves to reveal his brawny arms. "You really want to pass up this opportunity?"

"I said I don't want to punch you …"

"Seven! Just do it already!" He pointed at his nose. "Right here. Break it, disfigure me!"

"NO!"

"You're not embarrassed to do it front of Eun-ji because she's a girl are you?"

"Heh. Now that's the most ironic thing I've heard in a long time." As soon as Luciel started speaking, he noticed how dangerously close he was to letting Eun-ji's secret out without her permission. "No, of course that's not the reason!"

"Ironic … how?" Zen wondered aloud.

Eun-ji stood up and clasped her hands against her chest, feeling her anxiety rising up again. She opened her mouth to speak, determined to bring this secret out into the light for all to hear.

"GUYS!" Yoosung exclaimed, looking every bit as angry as Luciel and Zen. "What are you doing?"

Everyone turned to face him.

"Yoosung …" Luciel clocked the boy's serious expression. "I know none of this is fair on you."

"No, it's really not fair. Why have you guys been keeping this quiet? Something happened between Zen and Eun-ji, right? So what was it and why are you fighting?"

Vanderwood clicked his tongue. "Do we really need to spell it out for you? They fucked."

"WHAT!?"

"They had sex," said Vanderwood, leaning in slightly towards Yoosung. "Do you know what that means?"

Yoosung shot the agent a cutting glare. "Shut up and stop being such a jerk!" he barked. "These are my friends we're talking about here."

Vanderwood assumed a mock surrender pose and smirked a little.

"ACTUALLY…" Eun-ji finally spoke up, trying to compete with Yoosung's sudden outburst. "A-actually, we didn't get that far. It just sort of-"

Zen sighed. "It's okay Eun-ji. I'll take it from here, don't worry."

"No. Please just let me finish. I feel like I need to tell my side of the story." She cleared her throat. "First of all, I haven't been entirely honest about my true identity. There's something about my past that I feel I want to bring out into the open."

Luciel approached her before she said anything further. "Eun-ji! Are you sure you want to do this? It really is your choice."

She smiled at him.

"Yeah, it's fine. I've made up my mind."


End file.
